A lethal new narcotic known as "zombie drug" is devastating communities across the US and exacerbating the country's already severe opioid crisis.
The drug, also commonly referred to as "tranq" or "tranq dope", consists of a mixture of fentanyl – a powerful synthetic opioid which is estimated to have killed more than 70,000 Americans last year – and xylazine, a sedative for large animals such as horses or cows. It causes severe skin lesions that can require amputation.
Images captured by Belgian media show numerous dazed and unresponsive people on the streets of Philadelphia, where tranq is especially prevalent, with most sitting or standing in unnatural positions.
"You see people overdosing all the time," one city resident told RTBF. "The drugs they're using are really out of control and the stuff they're putting in them are causing sores and abscesses. I've seen people lose their arms and legs. You see a lot of amputees walking around."
Wie kann man das zulassen? Zombie-Droge „Tranq“: Straßen voller erstarrter Menschen – in Kensington, einem Stadtteil von Philadelphia (USA) sind hunderte Süchtige betäubt von „Tranq“. Seit neuestem wird das Opioid Fentanyl mit einem Pferdebetäubungsmittel gestreckt verkauft. 😡 pic.twitter.com/06xIGq8sV9
— Gundula Graf (@GundulaGraf1) August 12, 2023
"You're so in it and you're so high it's like you don't know what's happening to your own body... and it's your body [that's] dying," another resident told VRT.
One user whose forearm was described by The New York Times as consisting of "blackened tissue, exposed white tendons and pus" confirmed the devastating bodily impact of the drug. "The tranq dope literally eats your flesh. It's self-destruction at its finest."
A deadly combination
Although US health authorities have long known about the harmful impact of fentanyl, they have only recently become aware of the lethal amplifying effects of xylazine.
In addition to causing skin lesions and necrosis, xylazine does not respond to the common anti-opioid overdose drug naloxone – making tranq substantially harder to treat than pure fentanyl.
Last month, the White House announced plans to limit the impact of "the deadly combination" of fentanyl and xylazine, which it described as "an illegal street drug cocktail that is fuelling a wave of overdose deaths".
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The White House also directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "to expand access to testing, prevention and overdose recovery resources" and to "disrupt the illegal xylazine supply chain".
The White House's efforts have been mirrored by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which recently issued a public safety alert on the dangers of tranq after discovering it in all but two of the US's 50 states.
"Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier," said DEA head Anne Milgram.
