If injected, the so-called zombie drug can also cause crusty skin ulcerations near the injection site, which may eventually become dead skin called eschar and become necrotic, resulting in the need for amputation. It’s often called an adulterant because it’s added with intentionality—it doesn’t just carry the fentanyl, it adds potentially appealing psychoactive properties. “It’s basically sought to increase the overall euphoria or high that’s experienced with fentanyl,” says Kim Janda, a professor in chemistry and immunology at Scripps Research Institute in California. Earlier this month, the San Francisco Department of Health announced that low levels of xylazine were found in the systems of four people who overdosed, suggesting that the substance can be hidden in drugs unbeknownst to the users. Krokodil is a public health emergency in Russia; authorities say there are about 100,000 people addicted to the drug. But it is hard to accurately diagnose someone who also abuses heroin because of the similar symptoms.
Why Synthetic Pot Makes People Act Like Zombies
The worrying “tranq” trend comes as the New York City Department of Health reported that 2,668 New Yorkers died of overdoses in 2021. Xylazine causes sedative-like symptoms, such as excessive sleepiness and respiratory depression, as well as raw wounds that can become severe and spread rapidly with repeated exposure. The crusty ulcerations, which can become dead skin called eschar, can result in amputation if left untreated.
First UK death linked to ‘zombie’ drug xylazine
The drug’s effects on the central nervous system may cause poor balance and coordination, making users stagger or stumble. Prolonged use of xylazine-contaminated drugs can result in severe non-healing skin ulcers and infections. Reduced blood flow and poor nutrition may cause skin to appear pale, gray, or discolored. However, many of these figures may be an underestimate, as due to xylazine being considered a mostly non-human drug, it is often not tested for during post mortem examinations. Additionally, the DEA states that xylazine is not currently included with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) reports of fatal overdoses.
Educational ReviewXylazine addiction turning humans to zombies: Fact or myth?
In the U.S. there was a major health scare last year after an Arizona man was hospitalized. He was an opiate addict who had injected himself with a homemade batch of Krokodil. Although there were numerous reports of the new “flesh-eating” drug, the Daily Beast and Forbes confirmed that most of the so-called users did not test positive for desomorphine. Instead, it was likely a bad staph infection or use of unsanitary needles.
Xylazine is coursing through the illicit drug supply. Here’s what it does—and why it’s not the main concern.
Since then, other videos showing people with erratic behaviour were soon attributed to the drug. Known as “tranq” or “tranq dope” when cut with heroin and fentanyl by drug dealers, xylazine has been causing huge problems in the US. Xylazine overdose is commonly encountered in combination with fentanyl, but it has also been detected in mixtures containing cocaine, heroin, and other drugs. Sometimes naloxone or nalmefene isn’t given to fentanyl/xylazine patients because their symptoms are confusing or patients deny using opioids. Also, routine toxicological screening is not performed for xylazine, making intoxication with it difficult to detect and manage. On block after block in the Kensington district we saw people suffering from addiction who were increasingly finding their opioid supply was being cut by dealers with xylazine.
- Sometimes naloxone or nalmefene isn’t given to fentanyl/xylazine patients because their symptoms are confusing or patients deny using opioids.
- And in Philadelphia, for example, xylazine was found in more than 90 percent of illicit drug samples tested in 2021, O’Neil and Kovach said.
- In conjunction, they may also experience fentanyl withdrawal symptoms, such as pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills.
- The new data shows it’s too late, and in May the first UK death linked to xylaxine was announced.
Teens treated in hospital after using spiked vape
Drug overdose deaths involving xylazine are on the rise, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates. From 2018 to 2021, the number of drug overdose deaths involving xylazine grew from 260 to 3,480 people, CDC figures show. One possibility is that the drugs lack a compound found in marijuana that may act as a brake, preventing bizarre behaviors. https://sober-home.org/ In the 12 months ending in January, 109,000 Americans died from a drug overdose. Nearly seven in ten of those deaths were attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl and a growing number were linked to xylazine. Overuse of the drug can lead to rotting skin ulcerations and ultimately limb amputations if untreated, hence its horrifying nickname “zombie drug”.
Although the numbers found were small – only two THC vapes and a small number of illegally sold pills out of tens of thousands of products – the experts say it is still extremely concerning. The report highlights the need to monitor changes in illicit-drug markets and in emerging drugs. In March, Sky News revealed the scale of the xylazine crisis in the northeastern city of Philadelphia, where the drug cocktail first emerged, with a report that exposed the true cost of America’s evolving drug challenge. Usually, these wounds appear on the arms and legs and do not always occur at the site where someone has previously injected. The wounds can vary in size, sometimes involving underlying muscle or bone. They can become infected with bacteria, which can spread to deeper tissue such as joints or to the bloodstream.
O’Neil and Kovach said they had worked with several people who had successful healing of their wounds, including those with large, deep wounds requiring extensive surgeries. Outcomes for people with these wounds vary based on the site and size of the injury, the presence of infection and how quickly they present to the hospital for care. “Due to the stigma of injection drug use, people may delay seeking medical care. Because of this, I suspect this problem is even more common in the community compared to what we have glimpsed in the hospital so far,” the doctors said. The doctors treated the man’s wounds and by a six-month follow-up, they had healed well, according to the NEJM article. They also initiated buprenorphine therapy to treat the patient’s opioid-use disorder.
“After repeated use fentanyl and xylazine people can experience withdrawal, which can be difficult to treat requiring close observation and slow tapering of supportive medications,” O’Neil and Kovach said. The images show the injuries suffered by a man in his 30s who had been injecting the synthetic opioid fentanyl adulterated with xylazine into his neck and arm veins for three years. Doctors have published photos revealing the disturbing impact of a dangerous fentanyl additive on the human body. “The main concern is we’re already amid the worst overdose crisis in history, nationally and locally,” Tsai told the Los Angeles Times. People with substance use disorders who get hooked on the zombifying drug believe the emerging substance killed “any kind of joy” that came with getting high. Last month, one Philly user suddenly developed xylazine-specific wounds near her opioid injection sites.
Though he stayed away from the drug during his days as a user, Sherman knows what to look for. Some of his coworkers at Savage Sisters, before they got sober and took counseling jobs at the center, developed similar wounds from their repeated use of drugs containing xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that goes by the street name tranq. The city reported that 90% of lab-tested dope samples from 2021 contained xylazine, which can increase the risk of overdose when combined with other illicit substances. Because it is not listed as a controlled substance for animals or humans, “tranq” lands in a confusing and horrifying gray area — and hospitals rarely test for it with routine toxicology screenings. Xylazine was listed on the man’s death certificate as contributing to his death but there was no way of recording it in the UK drug-deaths database.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Trevor Corneil says the discovery of the drug is a good example of the level of sophistication that both harm-reduction workers and users have been able to access in the province. The new data shows it’s too late, and in May the first UK death linked to xylaxine was announced. “The hospitals can’t keep the patients comfortable – because of their addiction – to keep them long enough to get the wounds under control,” Ronnie Kaiser told me. Let us know via We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek. Xylazine was first detected as a problem around 20 years ago in Puerto Rico, but has gradually made its way across the U.S.
The US FDA has also said that health authorities in the country will continuing to investigate the source of Xylazine in the illicit drug supply, and will provide an update when new information is available. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), it can cause drowsiness and amnesia and slow breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to dangerously low levels. Like synthetic marijuana in New York City, flakka emerged in public consciousness in 2015 after a viral video on YouTube, titled “Flocka [sic] is Destroying USA”, depicted a young woman dancing in the rain.
As a result, when people smoke pot, “CBD reduces the negative effects of THC,” D’Souza said. Although synthetic cannabinoids contain THC, they don’t contain CBD, so the release of chemical messengers in the brain goes unchecked, thus creating more undesirable effects, D’Souza speculated. Users of increasingly popular street drugs called K2 or spice, which are made from mixtures of herbs laced with synthetic cannabinoids and other chemicals, are showing some incredibly strange behaviors. However, some people do buy xylazine for abuse, especially in cities like Philadelphia. According to forensic expert John Thompson, M.D., chairman of psychiatry at Tulane, the combined drug is also found in New Orleans. As tranq’s inclusion in street drugs spreads, states may spring into action on their own, especially in the absence of federal direction.
“Even small wounds though can take several weeks to heal and can leave significant scars.” According to a case study published in the New https://sober-home.org/ecstasy-withdrawal-causes-symptoms-treatment/ England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the man had presented to the emergency department with a one-month history of enlarging chest wounds.
Mark S. Gold, M.D., is a pioneering researcher, professor, and chairman of psychiatry at Yale, the University of Florida, and Washington University in St Louis. His theories have changed the field, stimulated additional research, and led to new understanding and treatments for opioid use disorders, cocaine use disorders, overeating, smoking, and depression. The fear now, given the ever-growing supply of xylazine-adulterated fentanyl, is that it will infiltrate other sectors of society. She pointed to the perennial American problem of medical insurance and the ‘for profit’ medical facilities. Even those living on the streets and suffering from addiction are required to navigate the country’s complex health system if they are to stand a real chance of recovery. “We need more help with prevention, harm reduction, rehab and recovery houses – these should be the absolute solution now!” she said.
