Officials in Los Angeles are raising the alarm about the “concerning” development of a “zombie drug” that can have horrifying effects on addicts, such as eating away at their body.
When combined with other illegal substances like heroin and fentanyl, the common street drug “tranq”—also known as the animal tranquillizer xylazine—can produce terrible effects. According to reports, it is being used more frequently and can cause skin and muscle to rot away, therefore LA authorities are now racing to find it.
Bill Bodner, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, told KTLA that the practise “really gruesomely disfigures people.”
“Xylazine is a vasoconstrictor, so it’s much more likely to prevent someone from breathing,” the doctor said. Therefore, it really reduces blood circulation when you inject it.
The LA County Sheriff’s Office launched a new programme to monitor the prevalence of the hazardous drug, which is not intended for human consumption. Because it is not a prohibited substance, authorities have just recently made it a top priority, according to the local media.
The Los Angeles Times said that the programme started in mid-April with crime lab experts noting the times when xylazine’s early symptoms were found in substances that had been seized.
It’s expected to run for a month before next steps are mulled over.
“In the greater Los Angeles area we are seeing Xylazine as an additive within fake fentanyl pills,” DEA spokesperson for the LA Field Division Nicole Nishida told the newspaper. “While the numbers are relatively low in our community compared to elsewhere in the United States, the presence of xylazine is now becoming more frequent and the trend is concerning.”
Addiction expert Cary Quashen said he’s “never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now.”
“We had a woman come in and her sister had passed away from a fentanyl overdose,” Quashen told KTLA. “But not only was it a fentanyl overdose (but) her skin was starting to rot, the muscles on her leg and her arm. So that’s a sure sign of xylazine.”
Los Angeles isn’t the only place dealing with the horrifying substance.
In March, the DEA issued an urgent public safety alert on the use of xylazine as a readily available cutting agent for fentanyl, which has already spread to 48 states.
According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the dangerous “zombie drug” has been linked to dozens of fatalities in New York.