A powerful sedative in Philly’s drug supply is causing severe wounds and agonizing withdrawals. It’s quickly becoming unavoidable

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Public health officials, advocates, and drug users are concerned about the rise of 'tranq dope' -- a sedative that makes overdoses harder to reverse and may be causing serious skin lesions.

withdrawal can be painful. What’s more, traditional opioid withdrawal medications don’t help,Intravenous drug users often contend with skin infections at the site of injections. But with xylazine, severe lesions can appear anywhere on the body. Sherman remembers finding a small wound on his leg — where he never injected drugs — that took months to heal.

When Philadelphia’s health department began a drug-testing program in the fall of 2020, it quickly realized that the city’s volatile drug supply was changing again. “The brain receptor that xylazine works on is one of the same receptors we use to manage opiate withdrawal symptoms like elevated vital signs, severe hypertension, and [high heart rates],” said Christopher Martin, a Jefferson University Hospital psychiatrist who works with patients with psychiatric conditions and substance use disorders.

In his last trip to a hospital seeking help, he lasted 4½ days before the withdrawal became too much, he said.

 

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