Using our interactive charts
Medetomidine began appearing in the Washington state drug supply in 2025, following the trend east of the Rockies, perhaps as a replacement for xylazine, although it may also appear in a given sample alongside xylazine. Like xylazine, medetomidine is a strong sedative and analgesic, but its sedating effects are stonger and longer lasting. Its appearance in the fentanyl supply may be motivated its perceived potential to extend the effects of fentanyl and enhance the feeling of pain relief. It has been reported to cause serious overdose in combination with fentanyl.
First, we show community drug checking samples positive for medetomidine by quarter, broken out by those also positive for fentanyls and those not found with fentanyls (which is rare). Initially, "all other samples" is hidden to focus on medetomidine-positive samples, but if you click on that entry in the legend, you can see the relative prevalence of medetomidine over time. Hover over a data point to see the percentage of all samples (if all other samples is in the graph) or of medetomidine-positive samples (if all other samples is hidden).
The graphs below show the data in a different way: Among samples positive for medetomidine, what were they reportedly sold or given as. Here, in addition to our usual key "sold as" categories, which are not mutually exclusive, we add an indicator for being sold as none of these key categories.
Below we present the drugs found alongside medetomidine in confirmatory testing results. To date, all medetomidine has been found with fentanyl and/or related substances (analogues or precursors). Note that "fentanyl precursors" are fentanyl-specific impurities, while the substances in the "impurities" category repesent chemicals or compounds that remain after processing or synthesis of other drugs, such as heroin (e.g., noscapine and papaverine) or methamphetamine (e.g., N-acetylmethamphetamine) or versatile chemicals used in multiple chemical reactions not specifically linked to a given drug outcome. Results are cumulative.
Drug testing sites can do little about potential cross-contamination: The container a client used may or may not have been used before. Therefore, any unusual combination may be due to cross-contamination and not represent drugs actually sold together. For more details on drug categories named above, click here.