A killer flesh-rotting animal tranquiliser used in vapes is set to be banned by the UK Government.
Xylazine, nicknamed ‘tranq’, has helped turn US cities like Philadelphia and New York into ‘zombielands’, leaving users lifeless.
But the potent drug — strong enough to knock out elephants — is now ‘widespread’ on UK streets, according to experts.
It has already been linked to 11 deaths since 2022.
Under the fresh crackdown on drug dealing gangs, the Home Office will now push legislation to ban xylazine and 21 other substances in a bid to prevent future deaths.
Karl Warburton, 43, (pictured) died in May 2022 from the effects of xylazine combined with other drugs including heroin, fentanyl and cocaine
Xylazine depresses the central nervous system, causing users, such as these in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, to exhibit a zombie-like appearance
Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said: ‘One of this new Government’s central missions is to make our streets safer.
‘We will not accept the use of substances that put lives at risk and allow drug gangs to profit from exploiting vulnerable people.
‘We have seen what has happened in other countries when the use of these drugs is allowed to grow out of control, and this is why we are among the first countries to take action and protect our communities from these dangerous new drugs.
‘The criminals who produce, distribute and profit from these drugs will therefore face the full force of the law.
A powerful animal tranquiliser that has helped turn some US cities into ‘zombielands’ is being added to UK cocaine supplies, experts have warned
‘The changes being introduced this week will also make it easier to crack down on those suppliers who are trying to circumvent our controls.’
Xylazine, which has been found in vapes some illicit drug takers use for cannabis, is set to be labelled a Class C drug.
Of the other 21, six will be controlled as Class A.
Under the 1971 the Misuse of Drugs Act, drugs are put into three different classes based on their danger to people.
Class A is the most serious and includes substances like cocaine and crack, ecstasy, MDMA and heroin while codeine, ketamine and cannabis are deemed Class B.
So-called ‘date rape’ drug GHB, anabolic steroids, nitrous oxide and the stimulant khat, meanwhile, are among Class C drugs.
Current drug laws see those in possession of Class A drugs face up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
Anyone caught supplying or producing can face a life prison sentence, an unlimited fine or both.
People caught in possession of Class B face up to five years in prison, while anyone caught carrying Class Cs can be jailed for two years.
Xylazine-involved overdose deaths in the United States rose from 102 to 3,468 in just three years between 2018 and 2021.
It was designated an ’emerging drug threat’ by the White House in April 2023, which often precedes classifying a drug as illegal.
But no further national action has yet been taken.
The flesh-eating drug can affect someone’s skin in places separate from the injection site. This patient often injected the drug into his neck with gruesome effects
Some individual US states, including Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, have implemented bans.
Earlier this year researchers from Kings College London also found tranq in cocaine, counterfeit codeine and Valium tablets.
They warned the 11 figure is also likely to be an a ‘gross underestimation’, given how UK labs have not routinely been testing for the drug.
This is thought to include Karl Warburton, a 43-year-old factory worker from Solihull who became the UK’s first known tranq victim in 2022.
Writing in the journal Addiction, they warned if tranq use exploded like in the US, hundreds of Brits could die.
‘If the UK were to experience the 20-fold increase in deaths seen in the US since 2015, deaths following xylazine use could be anticipated to exceed 220 deaths by 2028,’ they said.
Xylazine will remain available for veterinary prescribing, the Government said. However, it will be only available if lawfully prescribed.
The changes are expected to come into force later this year or in early 2025.
