Doctors say xylazine - a muscle relaxant intended for large animals like horses - has been appearing in the illicit drug scene in cities across the US, joining fentanyl as one of the primary narcotics used to cut opioids.
The drug prolongs the highs felt from heroin, but results in users passing out for hours at a time, while injection points ulcerate and lead to grisly wounds that spread across the body.
As a veterinarian, over the past 35+ years, I've used literally gallons of xylazine in my patients - mostly as an intravenous injection, but intramuscularly in cattle and pigs on a regular basis. No necrotizing lesions occur. Perhaps there's something different about human physiology, but I suspect it's just junkies using and reusing dirty needles, and contaminating the stuff still in the bottle as they go in and out through the rubber stopper... resulting in them injecting the contaminating bacteria/fungi into their muscles and subcutaneous tissues.
ReplyDeleteWhile I still think druggies injecting 'fecal soup' is probably part of this deal, a bit of searching the scientific literature indicates that initial trials with xylazine in humans were discontinued after realizing that it caused peripheral vasoconstriction. Have subsequently seen case reports with photos of the lesions in drug-users... it's ugly!
DeleteIs this the same thing known on the street as crocodill?
ReplyDeleteNo. Crocodil's base is desomorphine. It's often cooked with other ingredients using solvents like gasoline or lighter fluid (naptha).
DeleteYou got some?
DeleteAnyone who uses crack or meth is pretty much beyond what I can consider human. They lose all empathy and seem to regard everything as 'theirs'. I have sympathy for them.
ReplyDeleteGot a son-in-law like that. What a waste.
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