Flesh-eating zombie drug “tranq” faces ban amid fears it’s in use in UK
FLESH-eating zombie drug “tranq” that is fuelling America’s opioid crisis faces a ban amid fears it is in use in Britain.
Ministers want to make horse sedative Xylazine a Class A drug to stop the USA’s epidemic coming to the UK, the Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Mixed with heroin or lab-made drugs like Fentanyl it enhances the user’s high and causes them to hunch over in a zombie-like state.
It has turned parts of LA and Philadelphia into crime ridden no-go zones.
The deadly tranquilizer also increases the risk of overdose and rots human flesh with some users needing their limbs amputated.
Tranq has been linked to at least one death in the UK as experts warn there is evidence it is present in the UK drug supply.
Karl Warburton, a 43-year-old factory worker and father-of-two from Solihull, West Midlands, died in May 2022 after taking heroin laced with tranq and fentanyl.
“We are lucky we don’t have the same problems America does,” one government source said.
“We will do whatever it takes to keep it that way. It kills people and we’ve seen what it does in America. It makes people’s bodies shut down.”
Policing minister Chris Philp has written to the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on whether Tranq should be controlled.
He wrote: “It is imperative we are proactive in our assessment of its harms.”
Dr Caroline Copeland, director of the national programme on substance abuse deaths, said: “Xylazine poses a clear danger to the health of people who use drugs, with evidence that it is now present in the UK drug supply. To reduce the impact of its health harms we need to expand access to testing.”
However, experts argue there is no evidence that Xylazine has been taken from supplies meant for animals in the UK.
Dr Polly Taylor, a veterinary specialist in anaesthesia, said: “It feels to suddenly make it a controlled drug is a huge kneejerk action that will cause a lot of headaches for the veterinary profession.”
The UK Government is also banning synthetic opioids with 11 forms set to be made Class A early next year. And sources say they are being “ultra-alert” at the border.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Drug abuse devastates lives and tears families apart. That is why we are determined to protect people from the threat posed by illicit synthetic drugs and will not hesitate to act to keep the public safe.
“Our independent experts on drugs are examining the potential harms of xylazine and will advise on any appropriate controls in due course.”
Controlled drugs can be made available for use in healthcare with specifications on who can prescribe them – including vets.