The Street Drug Called ‘Tranq Dope’ Or ‘Zombie Drug’ Is Compounding The Overdose Crisis In America
- Travis Uresk
- Aug 30, 2024
- 4 min read
By Travis Uresk
8/30/24
In February 2023, Sky News reported from Philadelphia and found a new street drug called "Tranq Dope" or the "Zombie Drug." It's a mixture of Fentanyl and a veterinary tranquilizer called Xylazine that is rotting the flesh of people who use it. (video below)
The drug is sold for only a few dollars a bag. The deadly drug is baffling doctors who race to treat 'zombified' users and their open skin wounds. This new drug is compounding the overdose crisis in America.
Xylazine
A tranquilizer called Xylazine, a non-opioid sedative, is increasingly being found in the U.S. illegal drug supply and linked to overdose deaths. Xylazine, which is not approved for use in people and can slow down the brain and breathing, make the heart beat slower, and lower blood pressure in people, is especially dangerous when combined with opioids like Fentanyl.
Due to its impact on the opioid crisis, Fentanyl mixed (adulterated) with Xylazine was declared an emerging threat by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. On July 11, 2023, the White House released a National Response Plan to address the emerging threat of Fentanyl mixed with Xylazine.
Xylazine (also called "tranq" or "tranq dope") is a non-opioid sedative or tranquilizer. Although not a controlled substance in the United States, Xylazine is not approved for use in humans.
Xylazine can slow breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to dangerously low levels. Overdose reversal medications do not reverse the effects of Xylazine. Experts recommend that people give opioid overdose reversal medications to those experiencing symptoms of an overdose with suspected Xylazine exposure since opioids are often present with Xylazine. In addition to the risk of overdose, repeated xylazine use is associated with skin wounds, such as open sores (ulcers) and abscesses.
NIDA-supported research is underway to understand Xylazine's effects on the body, its impact on communities, and its role in the overdose crisis. NIDA also supports broader research into changes to the drug supply and evolving patterns of drug use across the United States. This includes how and why people use drugs and are exposed to Xylazine and synthetic opioids like Fentanyl.
DEA Reports Widespread Threat of Fentanyl Mixed with Xylazine
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the American public of a sharp increase in the trafficking of Fentanyl mixed with Xylazine. Xylazine, also known as "Tranq," is a powerful sedative that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use.
“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier," said Administrator Milgram. "DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 States. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022, approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained Xylazine."
According to the CDC, 107,735 Americans died between August 2021 and August 2022 from drug poisonings, with 66 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like Fentanyl. The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, using chemicals largely sourced from China, are primarily responsible for the vast majority of the Fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States.
Fentanyl’s Effects On The Brain
Tests show why opioid is so deadly: ‘It stops people’s breathing before they even realize it’
Fentanyl is used to supplement sedation and relieve severe pain during and after surgery, but it’s also one of the deadliest drugs of the opioid epidemic.
In research conducted by investigators at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and published in PNAS Nexus, tests of the brain's electrical activity revealed Fentanyl's effects over time and indicated that the drug stops people’s breathing before noticeable changes and before they lose consciousness.
The findings make it clear that no amount of Fentanyl would be safe outside of a clinical setting with trained specialists. As fentanyl exposure is likely to remain a persistent risk during illicit use, the rapid respiratory depression the researchers observed supports the need for increased availability of medical observation or supervision units, naloxone, and other tools to reduce the risk of death among individuals with substance use disorder.
Fentanyl is a fully synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is sometimes prescribed for legitimate medical reasons; however, it is also commonly synthesized in illicit labs and sold on the black market.
Prescription fentanyl may be prescribed to treat relatively severe pain. In its various formulations, prescription fentanyl may be administered as an injectable solution, transdermal patch, or lozenge.
Much of the opioid overdose crisis in recent years has involved illicitly manufactured Fentanyl (IMF). Illicit forms of Fentanyl are sometimes sold in powder or liquid form or pressed into pills that resemble prescription medications.
While Fentanyl is often sought after by people who use opioids, many people risk taking Fentanyl unknowingly by using other illicit drugs. Fentanyl's role in overdoses today is partially due to many illegal drug distributors intentionally mixing Fentanyl with other substances (e.g., methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine) to drive down their costs of production (and, therefore, increase their profits). For people who have built no tolerance to opioids, and even for those who have consumed Fentanyl unknowingly with other drugs, it can be extremely dangerous.
Unfortunately, it is sometimes impossible to tell with the naked eye whether illicitly manufactured drugs, such as heroin, MDMA, cocaine, and methamphetamine, contain trace amounts of Fentanyl.
'People will keep dying': Fentanyl crisis grips Mexico's border cities
The scene which greeted Tijuana's paramedics as they entered 'La Perla' bar in the early hours of the morning was grim.
Two men were unconscious - a heavy-set man sprawled on the floor, his friend slumped in a chair - both clinging to life by a thread.
New US street drug 'Tranq Dope' rotting people's skin
Shocking video shows zombie-like addicts at ‘ground zero’ of Philadelphia’s ‘tranq’ epidemic
Inside the fentanyl cartel: Mexico crime lords feeding US addiction
One Pill: Fighting Fentanyl
Sources: https://www.dea.gov/ DEA
https://nida.nih.gov/ NIDA_NIH.GOV
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/ The Harvard Gazette
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/ American Addiction Centers
