The last time I reported on xylazine, the horse tranquilizer that is now being mixed with fentanyl, overdoses associated with the potentially lethal mixture were exploding.
Now The New York Post is reporting that the “zombie drug” is now infecting cocaine supplies. The story of a 40-year-old NYC businessman shows that fentanyl users aren’t the only ones who are being sold tainted drugs.
The 40-something-year-old from Massapequa Park, a tony suburban village on Long Island, had dabbled in cocaine now and again, but nothing harder.But his toxicology report painted a far different picture: His blood was rife with fentanyl and xylazine — the animal sedative known as “tranq,’’ which is now not only infecting hardcore addicts but also recreational drug users by slithering into the cocaine supply….“We’ve seen an increase in street-level distribution of cocaine-xylazine mixture[s],” Frank Tarentino, the special agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, told The Post.“It’s widespread. And it’s getting worse.”The agency has found that about 15% of all drugs tested in its Northeast regional laboratory include xylazine, Tarentino said.
Xylazine is most prevalent in the American Northeast and has been identified in illicit drug samples in 48 states. Xylazine use appears to injure blood vessels in the skin, leading to the death of skin tissue and the development of slow-healing or non-healing (“necrotic”) wounds.
Doctors are scrambling to develop techniques to heal the devastation to addicts they are now treating. Doctors Jessica O’Neil and Steven Kovach at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania recently shared their experiences with Newsweek.
“In our experience, a small wound can heal with cessation of injection, cleaning of the wound and supportive wound care,” the doctors said. “Even small wounds though can take several weeks to heal and can leave significant scars.””A large, deep wound with superimposed infection may require a combination of antibiotics and surgery to remove dead tissue and close the wound with a skin graft or flap. We have also unfortunately observed a small number of people who have had such extensive tissue death and infection that they have undergone amputation of limbs.”O’Neill and Kovach said they had worked with several people who had successful healing of their wounds, including those with large, deep wounds requiring extensive surgeries.”Successful treatment of this condition requires a team of specialists including plastic surgeons, dermatologists, infectious disease doctors, wound care specialists. And most importantly, addiction medicine specialists and social workers to support people through withdrawal, initiate substance use disorder treatment and connect them to resources for their ongoing care,” they said.
But not to worry! A couple of weeks ago, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to eliminate the growing threat of fentanyl-laced with xylazine.
The plan directs several federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Food and Drug Administration, to expand access to testing, prevention and overdose recovery resources. It also aims to disrupt the illegal xylazine supply chain, among other efforts.Those agencies must develop and submit an implementation report to the White House in 60 days.
I am sure the CDC and FDA plans will be as successful as their last contain-and-control measures.
Meanwhile, illegal drugs — contaminated and otherwise — continue to flow into the nation at astonishing rates.
The crew members of the United States Coastguard Cutter Margaret Norvell (WPC-1105) and Customs Border Patrol successfully offloaded a substantial haul of illegal drugs in Miami, Monday. The seized contraband included over 717 pounds of cocaine and 2,640 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value exceeding $12 million.
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