What is Tranq? Zombie drugs wounds pictures sparks panic and concern online (2023)

An animal sedative called xylazine, also known as tranq, is being mixed with other drugs to create a new substance that has hit parts of the northeast United States, especially Philadelphia.

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of drugs and drug usage. Discretion is advised.

Xyaline is often mixed with heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. The animal muscle relaxant lengthens or increases the state of being high that opioid users wish to obtain.

This animal tranquilizer has been growing zombie-like symptoms in fentanyl users, and several users in Philadelphia's Kensington Avenue are affected by the drug. According to a report by PIX 11, people have experienced symptoms like swollen hands, leg wounds, and some were even reported to have missing limbs.

Several clips of people walking strangely on the road have been shared online, spreading concerns as well as panic among people. Xylazine is now being referred to as the zombie drug.

The impact of tranq is slowly spreading across the United States

Apart from increasing the potential of overdosing, xylazine, when mixed with fentanyl, cocaine or heroin, can cause damage to the tissue where it is injected. Additionally, Naloxone, a drug used for overdose reversals, does not have any effect on xylazine.

Thus, wounds or ulcers caused due to injecting tranq can also spread to other parts of the body with repeated use of the drug. Using the drug can also lead to damage to body parts which may need amputation.

Since Philadelphia, the influence of the zombie drug has now also been found in drug testing in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The flesh-eating drug has been held responsible for an increase in deaths due to overdoses.

Speaking to the New York Times, a user said that they developed raw wounds after using tranq. The person also said:

“I’d wake up in the morning crying because my arms were dying."

Several people have said that tranq is "zombifying" people's bodies as users are waking up with wounds and "holes" in their legs and feet.

Another user also said that they have big "holes all over" their body that have just popped up everywhere and not just in places where they injected themselves with the drug.

Users have spoken about getting help at Prevention Point Philadelphia for wound care.

Shawn Westfahl serves as the coordinator for Overdose Prevention at Prevention Point Philadelphia. He said that it is believed that the idea of mixing the drug xylazine into fentanyl and heroin supplies began in Puerto Rico before the animal tranquilizer turned up in Philadelphia.

According to a federal law enforcement source, tranq has entered 90% of Philadelphia’s drug supply and is now also detected in New York City’s drug stash houses. Westfahl noted that adding a horse sedative to another sedative makes the overall effect last much longer.

Art El Malik, a user, said that he tried fentanyl for the first time in Seattle before returning to Philadelphia. Several years ago, he noticed that his drugs were changing colors and turning into a different shade of pink or white.

Malik said that he used to wake up feeling completely sick. He also revealed that he saw people walking around with their knuckles hitting the ground, looking like animals.

Malik’s hands are now swollen and look three times larger than normal. He said that the doctors have warned him about an infection that could require him to amputate his hand.

He said that amputation is a possibility as several of his friends have already lost their limbs.

Another user from Delaware said that he recently had two holes in his shin before they healed. The user, 44-year-old Sean Anderson said that his mother got him addicted to heroin and pills when he was young. After his mother’s death due to COVID-19, he went to Philadelphia where a local dealer gave him a bag of dope for free.

Anderson said that after he had those samples of free dope, he has been stuck in the city.

Most people living in wheelchairs, tents, and even among the garbage across Kensington Avenue are now reportedly hooked on two drugs: fentanyl and tranq.

However, the Drug Enforcement Administration has not listed xylazine as a controlled substance under its association. The Food and Drug Administration is currently monitoring it instead.

In November 2022, the Food and Drug Administration also issued a warning about xylazine tainting the United States’ street drug supply.

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