Health department, co-op report spike in street overdoses and new non-opioid adulterants; outreach and late-night engagement launched

Public-health officials and the substance-use co-op reported a rise in visible street drug use downtown and described outreach steps to connect people to detox and services after new adulterants were linked to severe withdrawal and seizures. Co-op staff told the board the co-op placed roughly 26–30 people into detox in July and that outreach teams had collected more than 100,000 syringes since January. Staff reported an increase in incidents downtown — particularly in the Jam Plant and Jackson Street areas — involving drugs that include fentanyl, xylazine and another veterinary medication associated with prolonged unresponsiveness and withdrawal-related seizures. "It's not responding to Narcan," a public-health staff member said of the non-opioid adulterants, noting that xylazine and the other veterinary product do not reverse with naloxone and may require intensive-care placement when users begin to withdraw. Officials described an immediate response: the co-op planned a focused outreach "blast" with the Neighborhood Response Unit, the respite/shelter provider and other partners over the coming days to offer services and attempt to move people off the street and into care. The CDC scheduled a national call on the issue, and local co-op and shelter staff planned to participate to receive guidance. This was a discussion of ongoing public-health interventions and outreach operations; no new citywide policy or regulatory changes were adopted at the meeting.