Tranq Dope: Animal Sedative Mixed with Fentanyl Brings Fresh Horror to U.S. Drug Zones
A veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine is infiltrating street drugs, deepening addiction, baffling law enforcement and causing wounds so severe that some result in amputation.
Xylazine causes wounds that erupt with a scaly dead tissue called eschar; untreated, they can lead to amputation. It induces a blackout stupor for hours, rendering users vulnerable to rape and robbery. When people come to, the high from the fentanyl has long since faded and they immediately crave more. Because xylazine is a sedative and not an opioid, it resists standard opioid overdose reversal treatments.
More than 90 percent of Philadelphia’s lab-tested dope samples were positive for xylazine according to the most recent data.