Xylazine — an animal tranquilizer that causes, among other things, open skin sores — has infiltrated the UK drug black market, according to an analysis by King's College London published on Wednesday. The substance is increasingly appearing in counterfeit marijuana e-cigarettes, counterfeit codeine and Valium pills, and as an additive to fentanyl or heroin.
The study found samples of xylazine in 16 people in the UK, 11 of whom died. The deaths were recorded from December 2022 to August 2023.
“Xylazine has infiltrated the UK illicit drug market and is not only found in heroin. Urgent action is needed to protect both heroin users and wider drug users from its dangerous and long-term health effects,” the report said.
“The Deadliest Drug”
The arrival of xylazine in Europe threatens to worsen the continent's illicit drug problem. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reported several cases in recent years where xylazine was found to be mixed with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. “Most Deadly Drug Threat”America faced that.
A combination of xylazine and opioids such as fentanyl and heroin is called a “drunk dope.” Like opioids, narcotics can make your breathing and heart rate dangerously low. The rise of drug addiction in the United States is exacerbating the devastating opioid epidemic.
The first xylazine-related death outside North America was a 43-year-old man in the United Kingdom in May 2022, according to a study published last year.
In recent years, gangs have resorted to violence to control an illicit market worth €30 billion (PLN 1.3 billion) annually as illegal drugs flow into Europe.
Xylasin reached Europe
EU pharmaceutical experts have already warned Xylazine is becoming more common in Eastern Europe.
According to a recent report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), xylazine appeared in 13 percent. Syringes collected in the Latvian capital Riga, Estonian police began seizing drugs as early as 2022.
The EMCDDA considers xylazine and new synthetic opioids to be the greatest threat of the future. Newer opioids are more potent and require only small amounts of the drug to produce large quantities, putting users at risk of toxicity, the report said.
AFP/ANGELA WEISS / AFP
New York, May 25, 2023 Drug tests used to detect the presence of fentanyl and xylazine in various types of drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin.
Caroline Copeland, who wrote the study, says governments need to take action now to prevent deaths from xylazine use in Europe. He says cheap drug tests should be available and health workers should be aware of them Chronic skin lesions are an indication for intravenous drug use.
Study co-author Adam Holland of the University of Bristol said the growing threat from xylazine reinforces the need to review criminal drug laws.
“We need to expand interventions for drug users, including creating more drug control centers and overdose prevention centers, to give them the opportunities they need to recover,” Hollande insists.
