Posted on 12/21/2023 5:28:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved over the years when naloxone — commonly known as Narcan — is administered to someone overdosing on opioids.
Drugs
Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl can be mixed with xylazine, either to enhance drug effects or increase street value by increasing their weight.
sedative/tranquilizer called xylazine to heroin, fentanyl and other opioids. And that’s bad news for addicts because naloxone doesn’t reverse a xylazine overdose.
National Center for Biotechnology Information “You overdose on xylazine, and you’re going to die,” said the commander of the Greater Harrison Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force. “There is nothing to counter the effects of xylazine.”
When xylazine is cut with street drugs, it has the potential to kill or cause major skin ulcerations.
Yet West Virginia officials and health care professionals are seeing increased use of xylazine. It first was noticed here about 14 months ago.
“Fentanyl has been problematic in West Virginia for a number of years and has been the leading cause of drug overdose deaths for a number of years,” said William Ihlenfeld, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia. “Recently, we have seen the emergence of xylazine.”
Dr. Christopher Goode is chairman of the West Virginia University School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine.
U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld
“Drugs like xylazine are intermixed with other recreational drugs to increase potency,” Goode said. “To compete in the illicit drug business, you have to have the most potent drug. What the illicit drug manufacturers and dealers are trying to do is put the most potent drug out there so they are known for having the highest potency drug. But they have to walk a fine line to not overdose their customers.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, xylazine — also called “tranq” or “tranq dope” — is not approved for use in people, can be life-threatening and is especially dangerous when combined with opioids like fentanyl.
Christopher Goode Goode
Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and fentanyl can be mixed with xylazine, either to enhance drug effects or increase street value by increasing their weight.
“We are seeing it more regularly in North Central West Virginia and throughout West Virginia,” the Greater Harrison commander said. “Philadelphia seems to be one of the places it took its first stranglehold on. It is coming in via that way.”
In Philadelphia, xylazine was found in 31% of heroin and/or fentanyl overdose deaths in 2019.
“They’ve been finding xylazine in overdose victims for some time now — it is just becoming more frequent,” the commander said.
The CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System recently released a study on the issue. Among 20 states and Washington, D.C., the monthly percentage of deaths involving illegally made fentanyl with xylazine detected increased from 3% in January 2019 to 11% in June 2022.
When used, the drug can cause sedation, dangerously low blood pressure, slowed heart rate, wounds that can become infected or death.
“A person who is abusing it has a similar appearance to someone abusing fentanyl and heroin, but to more of a degree,” the Greater Harrison commander said.
When coupled with repeated trauma of injections, xylazine can lead to extensive ulceration.
“People walk around like zombies and their flesh starts to rot off,” the commander said.
According to National Library of Medicine, a study conducted in Puerto Rico looked at this effect. It was reported that people who used xylazine had a significantly higher prevalence of skin ulcers and poorer health than those who did not use xylazine.
Accidental overdosing occurs in Morgantown when naive college students are introduced to a drug that has been laced with fentanyl, Goode said.
“The illicit drug manufacturers and dealers are always evolving,” Goode said. “They are always looking for that next best high. And so when fentanyl is not enough, that’s why things like xylazine gets introduced. Every drug dealer wants to be known for having the best stuff.”
“Alone each of those substances are dangerous — together they are a lethal cocktail that creates an even greater risk for the user,” Ihlenfeld said. “Xylazine is not an opioid and it is meant to be used as a sedative for animals.”
Because naloxone does not reverse the effects of xylazine, medical professionals treat patients with supportive care to reduce the symptoms of the drug.
“It is about treating the side effects since there isn’t a specific antidote for xylazine,” Goode said.
Rehabilitation programs coupled with early education about abuse could help the state’s rising drug problem, the Greater Harrison commander said.
“For an area that has the highest addiction rate, it is hard to get a place for rehab,” the Greater Harrison commander said. “My personal thing is I think it needs to be attacked before it becomes more of a problem within the schools. There should be more emphasis on education. We don’t have D.A.R.E. [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] programs anymore.”
Ihlenfeld said he works with drug task forces daily to investigate those who are dealing in xylazine to attempt to interdict the drug coming into the area.
“We receive intelligence from time to time of xylazine coming in, so whenever we do receive that intelligence, we do everything we can to intercept it to prevent it from being added to the drug supply,” Ihlenfeld said.
Test strips are available for users to determine if xylazine is in a substance, Ihlenfeld said.
“The best message for people is that one pill can kill. You don’t know what is in the drugs that are being distributed outside of pharmacies on the streets,” Goode said.
“People walk around like zombies and their flesh starts to rot off.”
Almost Heaven....
AI will be creating endless new zombie drugs.
May as well get accustomed to it.
We live in wonderful times!
Xylazine:
Xylazine is a drug used for sedation, anesthesia, muscle relaxation, and analgesia in animals such as horses, cattle, and other non-human mammals. It is an analog of clonidine and an agonist at the α₂ class of adrenergic receptor.
In veterinary anesthesia, xylazine is often used in combination with ketamine.
Wikipedia:
Routes of administration: By mouth, inhalation, or injection (intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous)
AHFS/Drugs.com: International Drug Names
ATCvet code: QN05CM92 (WHO)
Got it wrong in the other thread-
it is nitazenes-ai will be producing endless synthetic opiods.
Now, a new group of synthetic drugs even more powerful than fentanyl – nitazenes – have emerged in the U.S., health authorities say.
https://health.usnews.com/drugs/articles/nitazenes
“when naive college students are introduced to a drug that has been laced with fentanyl, Goode said.”
At least that’s what they tell their parents. First time too.
It’s the time of the season.
They will/are making the augument drugs should be legalized and dispensed by an agency. Purity gauranteed. Soma for all. From Huxley-
“there is always soma, delicious soma, half a gramme for a half-holiday, a gramme for a week-end, two grammes for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon...”
All about control.
What did they expect?
Honestly, leftists are such idiots.
https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-reports-widespread-threat-fentanyl-mixed-xylazine
Government admits coming from China/Mexico yet allows it.
Isn’t Xylazine an extinct animal from Tasmania?
Narcan doesn’t work at all on this. Means Biden and Newsom have 300,000 dead addicts on their hands.
No one cares. Stalin was right with one person being a tragedy and a million a statistic( paraphrased).
Play stupid games.. .
Do Oregon, Seattle and Portland have programs to pass this new poison out to all the self-destructive souls who want to get high?
Pursuit of Happiness is an ageless sport.
You mean like Democrats?
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