Dubbed the “zombie drug,” xylazine could soon lead the United States to a spike in drug overdoses. Indeed, there is no treatment against the effects of this drug which causes necrosis in consumers.
Xylazine causes deep abscesses that rise to the surface
Originally, xylazine is used in veterinary anesthesiology. However, other indications exist, particularly in endocrinology. By acting on the α2 adrenergic receptors located in the central nervous system and the heart, xylazine decreases the release of norepinephrine and thus causes inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system. It is therefore not surprising that the use of this substance has been diverted for recreational purposes.
However, this trendy new drug is very powerful and dangerous. However, if xylazine “zombifies” consumers with its sedative effects, it is very dangerous on a whole new level. Indeed, their flesh can become necrotic over time. The drug also increases blood pressure and simultaneously reduces oxygenation of the skincausing abscesses which gradually rise to the surface.
Doctors must then treat wounds that they had never seen before. Moreover, the fact that these abscesses form inside the body makes the very difficult patient care. Indeed, there is no treatment.
A real public health problem
Currently, this drug is present in no less than 36 states of the United States and its progression is constant. It must be said that its cost is negligible, because it is sometimes possible to find some for only six dollars per kilogramas explained Newsweek in an article from March 7, 2023.
The damage caused by xylazine is reminiscent of that caused by fentanyl, an opioid that is still very much in vogue today. Nevertheless, xylazine could do even more damage if left untreated, as one study explains published in 2022. According to the authors, 26% of overdose deaths in Philadelphia that year involved this substance. In general, the American authorities have noticed a significant change. Indeed, fentanyl is gradually replacing drugs such as heroin, while xylazine tends to take the place of fentanyl to become the most popular drug.
In a statement published on February 28, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) therefore claimed to have adopted measures aimed at restricting the illegal entry of active pharmaceutical ingredients containing xylazine, but also pharmaceutical products in dosage form containing it. The FDA wants to respond as quickly as possible to what is now a real public health problem across the Atlantic.
