Science & Space

Xylazine, Also Known As "Tranq" and "Zombie Drug": Drug Attack Is Still Increasing Across States, Despite The FDA's Import Restrictions

The veterinary drug Xylazine, also known as "tranq" or "zombie drug," causes havoc among the American population due to recreational use. The drug is not intended for human consumption, but rather for the consumption of animals such as horses, cattle, and other non-human mammals. Veterinarians also use this drug as an emetic, particularly on cats.

Xylazine is a pharmaceutical drug used for animals for the purpose of seduction, anesthesia, muscle relaxation, and analgesia. If anyone consumes such a seductive and harmful drug for the human body, they will experience a variety of side effects. One of the most dangerous side effects will be severe skin rotting wounds, which may necessitate amputation of any body parts. 

But, the situation is very grim in the United States. Thousands of people are consuming this drug by mixing it with heroin and fentanyl. This drug is extremely dangerous, and even if an overdose victim begins breathing after Narcan is administered, they will not wake up until the effects of xylazine wear off. One of the major concerns about the drug is that there is no simple way to test it for xylazine. 

Xylazine has at least been found in 36 states of the United States, including the capital, Washington DC. This problem has become an epidemic in the United States after the Covid-19 menace. 

The Food and Drug Administration is attempting to control and review the shipment of Xylazine in order to ensure that it only reaches state-licensed pharmacies, FDA-approved manufacturing facilities, or veterinarians who are only permitted to use it on animals, not humans. 

But, FDA has to restrict the use of the drug with iron hand because buying Zombie drugs is still very easy. Because the drug can still be legally purchased in liquid and preloaded syringes, and the powder is very much buyable online. 

The first misuse of the drug was reported in Puerto Rico in the early 2000s, and the drug has been classified as a central nervous system depressant by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Xylazine is commonly administered via injection, but it can also be snorted, swallowed, or inhaled. The drug first appeared in the state of Pennsylvania's prominent city Philadelphia, where it was mixed with fentanyl and sold for a few dollars. It is now a threat to national security and a headache for the US government.

The use of Xylazine must be banned or discontinued because it is causing more deaths than it did in 2015. According to a CNN report, the drug was involved in only 0.36% of overdose deaths in 2015, but the situation has since changed dramatically, and it is now responsible for more than 10% of overdose deaths. 

In Pennsylvania, the percentage of all drug overdose deaths involving xylazine increased from 2% to 26% between 2015 and 2020. In Maryland in 2021, xylazine was involved in 19% of all drug overdose deaths, and in Connecticut in 2020, it was involved in 10% of all drug overdose deaths. 

Xylazine overdose is causing problems for doctors and groups to treat the overdose patients because the experts are recommending only the use of opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone because xylazine is frequently combined with opioids. However, because xylazine is not an opioid, therefore, naloxone has no effect on its respiratory effects, and its use is fraught with complications.

The US government is attempting to reduce the use of this drug by conducting research to elucidate emerging drug use patterns and changes in the illicit drug supply across the country, such as the use of xylazine, synthetic opioids, and changes in polydrug use patterns. 

More steps, however, are needed and expected to save the country's young people from the drug illusion. Otherwise, the nation will lose its true path and true glory, for which the fallen heroes fought so many desired and unwanted battles to save the future of the citizens of the United States.