Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Araghchi: The Iranian delegation has sent written clarifications to the American side several times, and we have yet to receive any written response from the US envoy.
Araghchi: The defensive and missile capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran give strength and leverage to the negotiators.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: If the other parties were capable of destroying our nuclear facilities militarily, they wouldn’t have entered talks with us.
Araghchi: Talks mean that the other parties are unable to impose their will on Iran through military force.
An earthquake strikes the Turkish city of Konya, with aftershocks felt in Ankara.
Reuters, citing a senior Iranian official: Tehran would only ship its highly enriched uranium abroad if US sanctions were lifted "verifiably and effectively".
Reuters, citing a senior Iranian official: Iran has not received any fresh proposal from the United States to resolve a decades-long nuclear dispute.
Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi: The horrific scale of crimes committed by the Israeli enemy in the Gaza Strip clearly constitutes genocide.
Pezeshkian: We believe in negotiations, but not in threats and imposed dictates, and we will never back down from preserving Iran's dignity.
Pezeshkian: All enemy efforts revolve around inciting sedition within Iran.

Zombie drug 'tranq' sending US down another dark path

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 20 Jun 2023 11:35
4 Min Read

Tranq, an emerging street drug with devastating effects, is sending the United States down a path darker than its predecessors due to various factors.

  • x
  • A protester gathers containers that look like OxyContin bottles at an anti-opioid demonstration in front of the US Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington on April 5, 2019 (AP)
    A protester gathers containers that look like OxyContin bottles at an anti-opioid demonstration in front of the US Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington on April 5, 2019 (AP)

Heroin was once at the helm of the drug empire, holding the reigns of the opioid epidemic in the United States before it was replaced by fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is much easier to produce, a lot cheaper, and much more potent. However, fentanyl seems to be falling out of favor as the market is dominated by tranq, a flesh-eating drug that turns its users into what could best be described as mindless zombies roaming the streets unaware of their surroundings.

One addict who identified as Martin told AFP how he saw fentanyl replacing heroin as New York's drug of choice, but today, he is trying to avoid the drug known as tranq, an animal tranquilizer whose effects are devastating the US population.

Read next: Combating fentanyl needs global strategy similar to COVID's: US envoy

Xylazine, whose street name is short for a tranquilizer, is said to cause holes in the user's body, as was evident with Martin, whose wounds on his legs and arms indicate that he may have used the detrimental substance.

The drug, which has been approved for veterinary use by the US Food and Drug Administration, infiltrated the country's diverse drug market as producers upped its usage to augment fentanyl.

Tranq-related overdose deaths have been on the increase in recent years, with the White House designating it as an emerging threat in April.

Its potency is surreal and it is highly accessible, with almost anyone being able to get it off the internet. Coupled with fentanyl nearly all the time, the opioid is around 50 times more potent than heroin.

The potency comes at a cost, however, as users would need to calibrate the amount they would abuse, but instead, they use as much as they would heroin, leading to their death. The emergence of the drug raise the number of fatal overdoses in the United States to nearly 110,000 in 2022, a record-high for the country hit by opioid epidemic after opioid epidemic.

The drug is notorious for how little it needs to induce an overdose.

Related News

No new US proposal, uranium export tied to sanctions relief: Iran

Netanyahu and Trump: Shifting ties amid Middle East tensions

  • On the left, a lethal dose of heroin; on the right, a lethal dose of fentanyl (New Hampshire State Police Forensic Lab)
    On the left, a lethal dose of heroin; on the right, a lethal dose of fentanyl (New Hampshire State Police Forensic Lab)

A lethal dose of heroin, i.e., enough of the substance to kill an average-sized adult male, is around 30 milligrams, while for fentanyl it is about 3 milligrams, a stark difference.

Meanwhile, xylazine-related overdoses rose from 260 in 2018 to 3,480 in 2021, showing a dangerous trend for the drug

New York City authorities say traces of xylazine were found in 19 percent of fatal opioid overdoses, around 419 deaths, in 2021.

Health experts suspect that xylazine causes abscesses and skin ulcers by tightening blood vessels, and in some cases, it could lead to amputation.

The number of fatal overdoses in New York soared more than 80 percent between 2019 and 2021 to 2,668 deaths, largely due to fentanyl as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, which isolated users and hampered relief efforts. African-American and Hispanic communities were the most impacted.

Between 2019 and 2021, the number of fatal overdoses in New York increased by more than 80%, reaching 2,668 deaths. Fentanyl and the Covid-19 pandemic, which isolated users and delayed relief operations, were largely to blame. The most affected communities were those that were Hispanic and African-American.

Both the city and drug-prevention associations are focusing on naloxone, a nasal spray antidote that reverses an opioid overdose. However, one major aspect of tranq is that it is not an opioid, so naloxone does not reverse its effects.

Leonardo Dominguez Gomez, a field researcher with New York's health department, said it is still possible to avoid xylazine because it hasn't proliferated through the market.

However, there are countless videos online showing how the populations of New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are being hit hard by the emerging zombie epidemic.

@urbanvisuals2.0 #thebronx #bronx #bronxnyc #nyc #fypシ ♬ original sound - Urban Visuals 2.0

Social media users were prompted by the sights seen in the streets of the United States to criticize the government for prioritizing military spending instead of combating the domestic crises the country is imbued in.

@urbanvisuals2.0 #kensingtonphilly #kensingtonphiladelphia #skidrow #kensington #philadelphia ♬ original sound - Urban Visuals 2.0
  • United States
  • New York
  • Drug Epidemic
  • Heroin
  • Fentanyl
  • Philadelphia
  • Traq

Most Read

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu, senior Israeli official says

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu: Israeli media

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
A boy draped in a Palestinian flag carries a mock rocket during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israeli rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, May 9, 2025 (AP)

Yemen announces hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport

  • Politics
  • 9 May 2025
President Donald Trump, left, greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington (AP)

US pressures 'Israel' for Gaza deal; Witkoff's Israeli rebuke leaked

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP )

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
A Fly Dubai plane is parked on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 (AP)
Economy

Israeli tourism suffers $3bln loss amid 'unprecedented' crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an annual ceremony in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu refuses to budge, captive talks stall: Israeli officials

Susan Sarandon joins hundreds urging BBC to release delayed Gaza film
Europe

Susan Sarandon joins call for BBC to air documentary on Gaza medics

In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, shakes hands with President Donald Trump, centre, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' blindsided by Trumps' Syria sanctions lift: The Times

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS