A so-called zombie drug which has claimed its first British victim could be widespread and drug screenings need to be updated to look for it, according to a panel of experts who studied the death.
Karl Warburton, 43, died at his home in Solihull, near Birmingham, in May 2022 and is believed to be the first recorded fatality caused by xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer which has caused devastation among addicts in the United States.
Xylazine—which should only be used to tranquilize large animals—lowers the heart and breathing rate and can cause large patches of rotting flesh if it is injected.
Research by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says xylazine is prevalent in 7 percent of overdoses across the United States and in some states it is blamed for up to 26 percent of all deaths.
“It’s already bringing a horrific wave of death and overdose to upstate New York, and it’s on its way to New York City and Long Island where we’ve already seen it begin to rear its ugly head,” Schumer added.
Copeland, the director of the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths, said it was “highly likely” xylazine was widely available in the UK drugs market.
She said regular drug screenings should be updated and users should be made aware of the risks of taking it.
In the study, Copeland’s team said Warburton, a factory worker, was a habitual drug user who was known to take crack cocaine and heroin, which had probably been laced with fentanyl and xylazine.
He was found dead in the lounge of his home, surrounded by drug paraphernalia.
After an inquest, a coroner determined his cause of death as acute aspiration pneumonitis, a lung injury caused by inhaling toxins.
Xylazine Only Discovered by Chance
The study said the presence of xylazine was only discovered by chance after a “strange peak” was noticed in his toxicology tests.In the United States the number of overdose deaths involving xylazine—known on the street as tranq dope—has seen a 20-fold increase between 2015 and 2020.
Copeland said xylazine was unlikely to have only been available in one UK drugs market.
She said: “If it has appeared in one place, it is highly unlikely that this was the only preparation with xylazine available. It probably is elsewhere but isn’t being detected.”
“If this is suggesting that we are now getting our heroin from similar sources to the United States, then absolutely it needs to be tested for. The most immediate thing to be done is to tell heroin users that this is around,” Copeland added.
The study said Warburton had probably bought a wrap of heroin, unaware it had been laced with fentanyl and xylazine.
In February, the FDA announced new measures to restrict the illicit flow of xylazine into the United States after it was “increasingly detected” in overdose deaths.
The FDA said xylazine can cause huge drops in blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate and, when injected, creates “patches of dead and rotting” tissue which often lead to amputation.
Mexican Cartels Blamed for Spread of Xylazine in US
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States.The DEA also said these cartels are sourcing much of these chemical compounds from China.
Schumer said: “[Xylazine is] coming into the country through China and often through Mexico and so even these drug dealers have started peddling this drug because it mimics opioids.”
Gupta said: “As a physician, I am deeply troubled about the devastating impact of the fentanyl-xylazine combination, and as President Biden’s drug policy adviser, I am immensely concerned about what this threat means for the nation.”
In an email to The Epoch Times, a UK government spokesperson said: “Any death due to substance misuse is a tragedy. We’re investing an extra £532 million through to 2025 to create over 50,000 high-quality places in drug and alcohol treatment services with high-quality care, including another 5,000 places for young people.”
“We continue to monitor seizures, non-fatal overdoses, and toxicology results, and issue advice and health alerts to local authorities when there are dangerous batches of specific drugs,” the spokesperson added.
