Tranq Drug: Animal Sedative Laced With Fentanyl Causes Gruesome Lesions Leading To Amputations

A drug laced with a known animal tranquilizer has been leaving its users with gruesome wounds that could possibly lead to amputations, a report said.

Xylazine, a non-opiate sedative, analgesic and muscle relaxant only authorized in the United States for veterinary use, has been widely available to drug users, according to a Fox News report.

"It is the biggest open-air drug market on the East Coast. You literally can just walk up on a block and cop whatever substance you like," James Sherman, a former user who is now focused on street outreach with the nonprofit Savage Sisters Recovery, told the outlet.

Xylazine is reportedly sold on the streets under several names, including tranq, tranq dope, sleep-cut, Philly dope and zombie drug.

One user told Fox News that she might lose her legs, as she's been dependent on the drug for over a year.

"I might even lose my legs. It has been going on for over a year now," Gene, a user, told the outlet.

"I am pretty much so scared of the withdrawal and the pain. It's like ten times as bad as a fever, and it is all at one time. You're vomiting. I mean, you get diarrhea. It is like an earthquake. I mean. It's bad."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already warned against Xylazine due to its dangerous side effects and hard-to-treat overdoses, according to an NBC News report in November.

"Repeated exposure to xylazine, by injection, has been associated with severe, necrotic skin ulcerations that are distinctly different from other soft-tissue infections (e.g., cellulitis, abscesses) often associated with injection drug use," the FDA said, as quoted by NBC News. "These ulcerations may develop in areas of the body away from the site of injection."

Sarah Laurel, the founder of the Philadelphia nonprofit Savage Sisters Recovery, told Fox News that individuals could be seen on the streets with exposed bone and muscle tissue.

"It's very sad and difficult to see in a first-world country. Five miles from Rittenhouse Square, individuals on the side of the road with bone and muscle and tissue exposed," said Laurel, as quoted by Fox News.

"If you take a walk down the street, you'll see several individuals that are amputees and whether you smoke it, shoot it or snort it those wounds will happen," said Laurel.

While Laurel and her team try to offer wound care and showers for the users, the need is too big for one group, the outlet said.

According to the outlet, the Philadelphia Health Department and Harm Reduction had already hired a wound-care nurse in May 2022 who has treated over 600 people, provided 1,400 specialized wound-care kits and distributed over 300 Narcan doses.

However, it is still not enough for the users.

"Well, my call to action is always going to be the same. We need to start testing for Xylzazine in humans, and we need to update withdrawal protocols and get more wound care street side. The city is doing a 100-day initiative Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., good for you. That is not going to help my friends, you know. My friends aren't going to go to get treatment unless you update those protocols, and you make them comfortable. Instead, they're getting this like, oh, you're just a junkie attitude," Laurel said, according to Fox News.

"There needs to be more compassion in the medical system around here."