Drug Tranq Dope Spreading in the US, Leaving Users With Horrific Wounds That Look Like Eaten From Inside Out

An animal tranquilizer, called xylazine, is worsening drug addiction and perplexing law enforcement across the US. The drug is inflicting wounds so severely that some require amputation.

The rise in wounds among drug users in Philadelphia is due to the recent explosion in the local xylazine (commonly known as "tranq") supply. By 2021, it was present in more than 90% of heroin and fentanyl samples. The wounds or lesions look like it is eating away the flesh from the inside out, which quadrupled emergency department visits for skin and soft tissue injuries from 2019 to 2021.

Drug Overdose Deaths Skyrocket In 2020 Fueled By Coronavirus Pandemic

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A frayed American Flag hangs from a door in Kensington on July 19, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, over 93,000 people died from a drug overdose last year in America. These numbers and the continued rise in opioid use made 2020 the deadliest year on record for drug overdoses. Officials have said that the increase is being driven by the lethal prevalence of fentanyl and stressed Americans due to the Covid pandemic.

Philadelphia: An Epicenter for Tranq Dope

Many neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and in increasingly drug-hot zones in the country are using the tranq dope to bulk up illicit fentanyl, which makes a devastating impact on the people.

As per the New York Times, Xylazine causes wounds that erupt with a scaly dead tissue known as eschar. It may lead to amputation if left untreated. The drug induces a blackout stupor for hours, which may make users vulnerable to rape and robbery. But users would immediately crave more after recovering from the high from the fentanyl.

Shawn Westfahl, an outreach worker with the health services center Prevention Point Philadelphia, said that it is too late for Philadelphia, which has become the epicenter of the drug. She noted that the city's supply is saturated and if other places in the country have a choice to avoid it, they should take note of what is happening in Philadelphia.

A 2022 study detected xylazine in the drug supply of 36 states, including the District of Columbia and New York City where the tranq dope has been found in 25% of drug samples. Due to these statistics, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a xylazine alert to clinicians across the country.

Experts believe that the number of xylazine's true prevalence could be larger than they thought. For now, it is unknown as hospitals do not test for it and some state medical examiners do not routinely do so either.

Tranq Dope Eats the Flesh

The drug is in a legal gray zone, which has been approved over 50 years ago as a veterinarian-prescribed analgesic. It is not listed as a controlled substance for animals and humans, hence it is not a subject for monitoring and has not been under the radar of federal law for abuse.

Tranq dope is a mix of xylazine, a sedative, and usually opioids, which are drugs that bind differently to brain receptors. Users have experienced horrific wounds from the drug, which they describe as something that eats the flesh and is self-destruction at its finest.

Field epidemiologist Jen Shinefeld told STAT News that the wounds are gnarly. These lesions are unlike other wounds that occur from injecting drugs. Rather, these wounds sprout on the skin far from where the drug is injected. Some people report snorting or smoking the xylazine-contaminated opioids and said developing an infection.

But more than the wounds, tranq dope is complicating overdose responses and withdrawal for people who try to reduce their illicit drug use. The harm it caused in Philadelphia could be a preview of what is headed to more places. Researchers have found prevalences on the East Coast, as well as in Chicago, Texas, and elsewhere.