ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE –
Dec. 17, 2023 – Since 2021, Kensington, a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia, has been ground zero for a new and dangerous sedative called “tranq”. Also known as “xylazine”, a side-effect of this drug can be struggling to stand upright, which is why users are commonly described in the media as “zombies”.
Xylazine has only been approved for veterinary use, and because it’s not an opioid, its effects cannot be reversed by emergency medication like Narcan, resulting in more fatalities. The percentage of deadly opioid overdoses in which it was detected rose by 276% between January 2019 and June 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported.
Rapidly, the use of the sedative has spread across the US, spiking in areas such as Philadelphia, where it is cut with other potent drugs like fentanyl.
Now, though, a new and unique problem seems to be affecting areas where the drug is showing up: a dark and voyeuristic type of content creation referred to as “tranq tourism”. This adjacent social media industry is becoming so prevalent it has even been the subject of a News Movement documentary.
