Xylazine is wreaking havoc across the Atlantic where it is nicknamed “zombie drug”. Its particularity is to make those who inject it look like the living dead. The consumption of this substance has experienced an alarming increase to the point that the White House has issued a national alert.
Sitting on a low wall, on this heavy Sunday afternoon, John Adam, bearded, in his early forties, has both arms covered in bandages. Through it, we see his wounds bleeding. Only his hands are visible, and they are burned. The effects of Xylazine.
“It’s like a chemical burn. It’s been nine months and it’s just starting to get a little better. Fentanyl kills you. Xylazine eats away at your body,” John Adam wrote.
In fact, xylazine literally hollow the body. Terrible infections caused by the injection. Necroses, poorly treated, require amputation. Mark, met in a park where there are more syringes than grass, says he quit Xylazine when he heard this statistic
“The last two years, THE amputations increased by 300% in the three surrounding hospitals”, explains Robert. The authorities do not give such a precise figure, but confirm an exponential increase in amputations.
Xylazine, originally an anesthetic for horses
If we call Xylazine the zombie drug, it’s because of the wounds, the skin torn off like the zombies. Those who take it walk like zombies. The rounded back, dangling arms, the head towards the ground. They have no more strength. This is normal since Xylazine is the source a powerful anesthetic for horses.
“Look at this man… impossible to say if he is alive”, illustrates Franck who knows the district of Kensington well, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. When he was younger, he too wandered under the aerial metro, like this extremely thin, elderly woman who clings to car windows. In the middle of a withdrawal crisis, she wants money for her dose
After a long stay in prison, Frank no longer touches drugs. But this father of two, tattoos as impressive as his biceps, regularly returns here to distribute water or visit Jim, in his sixties. He knows him and follows him for five years. While driving, he sees it in his wheelchair, inert.
“His legs are in very bad shape. He is in a wheelchair now. He can’t walk. His skin is turning black from the Xylazine. He was amputated at the ankles. His jaw was smashed, he was stabbed, his girlfriend was killed,” Frank says. Jim was just knocked out on drugs. Frank knows that one day he won’t wake up.
A cheap drug
The drug also spreads rapidly because of the price. Around 5 bucks right now. Robert got tricked like that. After the fire of his house, without insurance and without savings, he found himself on the street. “I came here because I didn’t have a dollar. I started getting addicted because every day they give out free drugs,” he says.
Above all, Xylazine increases the effects of Fentanyl, the drug that is ravaging the country. As explained by Dimas who takes it regularly. “It increases the effects of Fentanyl, because when you take it for a long time, your body adapts.”
As it is mixed with Fentanyl, doctors do not yet know how to treat this deadly cocktail. Serena, a former waitress, has been taking it for several years. She would rather die, she admits crying. The police make rounds, but do not intervene. Frank continues his patrols to see who needs the most help. For him, the authorities prefer that the traffic remains confined in this district.
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2023-06-28 04:28:00
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