Foundation for a Drug-Free World warns about xylazine, the so-called “zombie drug” threatening our nation

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has declared opioids mixed with xylazine as an emerging threat to the country

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, April 27, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — This month the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced an emerging threat in the opioid crisis: fentanyl adulterated or associated with xylazine. “Xylazine is a non-opioid tranquilizer approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for veterinary use but not human use,” said the ONDCP warning. In the street it is being called a “tranq” or “zombie drug.”

With the rise of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs being imported into the United States in recent years, xylazine has now reached staggering heights. This is due to elements of fentanyl that are being imported from China into Mexico and being made into pills and laced with other drugs in Mexican labs. According to the DEA, “The emergence of xylazine across the United States appears to be following the same path as fentanyl, beginning with white powder heroin markets in the Northeast before spreading to the South, and then working its way into drug markets westward. This pattern indicates that use of xylazine as an adulterant will likely increase and be commonly encountered in the illicit fentanyl supply.” While opioids are a crisis, the addition of xylazine is creating significantly more issues with greater addictive attributes as well as skin and muscle ulcers where it has been injected.

Drug dealers are first of all business owners, and they turn to what is more easily accessible and what will cause the greatest addiction, with the intention of creating repeat buyers.

Opioids such as fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs are said to be much more powerful than heroin. One of the problems facing the law enforcement and medical communities is that those buying and selling these drugs have no idea how much fentanyl is in them and what other drugs may be in them.

The DEA reports, “Xylazine-positive overdose deaths increased by 1,127% in the south, 750% in the west, more than 500% in the Midwest, and more than 100% in the northeast.” The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.

Foundation for a Drug-Free World (DFW) DC chapter is taking this threat seriously. Over the years during the fentanyl opioid epidemic, DFW has taken action to educate and inform the public of new drugs and their dangers. DFW provides free educational materials and delivers seminars and talks to inform as a preventative measure so people and especially kids can make better decisions to not take dangerous drugs. Studies have shown that those who are well-informed on the dangers are less likely to fall victim to peer pressure or emotional vulnerabilities that cause people to use drugs as a solution to life problems.

Xylazine is known as the “zombie flesh-eating drug” due to its potency and incompatibility with the human body. According to the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, “Xylazine causes wounds that erupt with a scaly dead tissue called eschar; untreated, they can lead to amputation. It induces a blackout stupor for hours, rendering users vulnerable to rape and robbery.”

Thalia Ghiglia from Foundation for a Drug-Free World warns, “It is vital to deliver accurate information on what is happening with the drugs that are being abused in our country. Kids need to know these hard truths before it is too late. Of course, adults, too, fall prey to the lure of drugs and the promise of feeling better or fitting in. But knowing the truth about drugs can save your life and the lives of loved ones. People have heard about the overdose epidemic, but most have no idea of the human toll in permanent health issues, brain damage, and disfigurement from some of these drugs. Information and education should be widely available and dispersed into our communities, workplaces, and schools.”

Foundation for a Drug-Free World produces and widely distributes high-impact, effective drug education materials, including a booklet specifically on prescription drug abuse. The Washington, DC, chapter continually disseminates these materials as broadly as possible with well over 100,000 booklets distributed in the DC area alone.

Always looking for opportunities to reach individuals and communities, DFW has been most grateful to its many partners who help multiply the reach of the information contained in the educational booklets through their networks. From setting up tables of free information at various Washington, DC, agency events to giving talks for local organizations, DFW has been focused on educating anyone who will listen. Studies have proven that when Americans know the dangers of drugs, the number that uses them lessens.

Internationally, Foundation for a Drug-Free World has distributed millions of booklets, including a booklet specifically on prescription drug abuse, around the world in 22 languages. The booklets are published by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, a nonprofit public benefit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Foundation for a Drug-Free World offers all of its educational materials for free, including free online courses. Materials can be ordered or downloaded from www.drugfreeworld.org. The free online courses help in learning about specific drugs and how to talk about them with friends and family.

Thalia Ghiglia
Foundation for a Drug-Free World
+1 202-667-6404
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