It’s a can of gasoline on a fire. On April 12, the director of the office in charge of the fight against drugs of the American government introduced the public to America’s new public enemy number one : xylazine, a sedative for animals authorized since 1972 in the country.
And for good reason: between 2018 and 2022, the number of fatal overdoses linked to this product has multiplied by 13 in the country, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with AFP. About 3,000 cases per year, which is in addition to the 75,000 annual deaths linked to the consumption of opioids in the United States.
A product that is not very dangerous in itself
However, taking this product is not dangerous as such. Concretely, xylazine does not cause psychotropic effects like a drug. Conversely, this tranquilizer for animals inhibits the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for heart rate or muscle contraction. This therefore slows down the consumer’s heart rate and breathing.
Problem: in the United States, this product is now sold in the form of a drug cocktail called “tranq”, reports the CDC. It is mostly found mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic painkiller derived from opium, 50 times more powerful than heroin and largely responsible for the opioid crisis in the country.
Sometimes unaware that they are consuming xylazine, consumers find themselves in an amorphous state for several hours, wandering around major American cities like the living dead. A phenomenon that gave him his nickname “zombie drug”.
Much more destructive side effects
Beyond this sedative and psychotropic effect, this combination is also destructive for the bodies of those who inject it by syringe. In a report published on June 21 by the daily Release, users of “tranq” reveal gaping and necrotic wounds on their arms and legs, sometimes to the bone. Side effects unique to xylazine that, if left untreated, can require skin grafts or amputations, says a nurse at St Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction in New York City.
Likewise, xylazine cannot be treated like other drugs. Not being an opioid, the sedative does not respond to the use of naloxone, a nasal spray typically used as an antidote to fentanyl. It thus complicates the treatment of “tranq” users and increases their risk of fatal overdose.
An American crisis still far from Europe
A product present in the vast majority of American states, according to the White House. In Philadelphia in particular, but also in New York, where xylazine was linked to around 19% of overdoses in 2021, according to AFP. This is the reason that prompted the US administration to classify this tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” on April 12. For US President Joe Biden, “the deadliest drug to ever threaten our country, fentanyl, is now made even deadlier by xylazine”.
Despite videos that claim the opposite on social networksthis product “is not observed” in France, affirms to L’Express the Observatory of drugs and addictive tendencies (OFDT), despite a case of xylazine-related overdose in the UK in May 2022.
France is especially worried about the arrival of fentanyl. On Tuesday, the National Assembly passed a measure to authorize customs to seize chemical substances that can be used to manufacture this synthetic drug. Even before xylazine, the authorities want to avoid an opioid crisis on French soil.