Xylazine has already been labeled an “emerging threat” in America – and now experts say the public health danger has spread to Britain. A powerful animal tranquilizer plaguing cities in the US has now “penetrated” the illegal drugs market in the UK, a report has warned.
Xylazine – often referred to as “Tranq” or “the zombie drug” because of its effect on users – has already been labeled an “emerging threat to the nation” by the White House. he drug was linked to a UK death for the first time during a post-mortem of Karl Warburton, found dead at his home in Solihull in May 2022.
Users often develop skin sores and infections where they inject which can start to rot – leading it to be dubbed “flesh-eating” – and have previously told Sky News that the mix increases their addiction.
Researchers, led by academics from King’s College London, say the health threat has “now expanded to the United Kingdom”.
Their study, published in the journal Addiction, examined various toxicology, drug testing and drug seizure sources.
While usually mixed with illegal drugs, it found xylazine had been discovered in counterfeit prescription medication tablets, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) vapes, and cocaine. esearchers found 35 cases of xylazine in England, Scotland and Wales by the end of August last year. No cases were found in Northern Ireland.
hey published data on samples from toxicology labs, where the drug was found in 16 people – including 11 who had died.
Eleven of the samples were from last summer.
They also referenced the death of Mr Warburton, who the coroner said had a history of using illegal drugs.
