evidence: Milwaukee County has seen a rise in overdose deaths involving xylazine, a powerful animal tranquilizer. Last year the county saw at least 51 deaths involving xylazine and the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Prior to 2020, xylazine was virtually unheard of in the county, while fentanyl-linked deaths have skyrocketed. The tranquilizer is now presenting unique challenges for people on the front lines of the overdose epidemic. [...] Those wounds were mentioned by Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County’s chief health policy advisor and director of medical services at the Office of Emergency Management, in tweets he made earlier this year. Weston was raising the alarm about xylazine, after Medical Examiner data showed that more than 10% of fentanyl deaths also involved xylazine. In 2020, Weston tweeted, xylazine accounted for just 1% of fentanyl-related deaths. Fentanyl has changed the game in Milwaukee, as it has across the country. In 2021, 644 people died of a drug overdose in Milwaukee County, and over 1,400 statewide. According to the Department of Health Services, 91% of opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin involved synthetic drugs, primarily fentanyl. [...] Since January 2022, the Milwaukee Fire Department has distributed 3,151 Narcan Hope Kits, containing Narcan and testing strips, to community members. Hope Kits can be obtained from fire and police stations, or even the nearest fire truck. March also saw the county deploy its first harm reduction vending machine with Narcan and other supplies. The county plans to deploy more of the free-to-use vending machines to the community.