LA officials warn public as flesh-eating ‘zombie drug’ consumes addicts
Luke Gentile
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Authorities in Los Angeles have issued a warning concerning the dispersion of a “zombie drug” that reportedly eats away at the flesh of addicts.
Going under the street name “tranq,” tranquilizer xylazine is ravaging the Los Angeles area when combined with other illegal drugs, including fentanyl and heroin, according to a report.
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“It’s really gruesomely disfiguring people,” Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Bill Bodner said.
“It’s much more likely to stop someone from breathing and the things that come along with xylazine, it’s a vasoconstrictor. So when you’re injecting it, it’s actually reducing the blood circulation.”
“Tranq” is usually cooked down into a powder form, which is then mixed with illicit substances, according to the report.
Its gruesome effects have given it the name the “zombie drug,” and there have been reports of users requiring amputations due to the disfiguring nature of the substance.
“I’ve never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now,” Cary Quashen, an addiction expert, said.
“We had a woman come in and her sister had passed away from a fentanyl overdose. … But, not only was it a fentanyl overdose [but] her skin was starting to rot, the muscles on her leg and her arm. So that’s a sure sign of xylazine.”
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Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said “tranq” is technically not an illegal substance, but they are now making a greater effort to track it in confiscated material, the report noted.
Warnings to the public have been issued by the Los Angeles County Health Department and Drug Enforcement Administration, and a pilot program in Los Angeles County has been put forward to fight the spread of “tranq” in an ongoing drug war.