• Xylazine — otherwise known as “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is wreaking havoc in major cities across the country with its devastating effects: It can literally rot the user’s skin.
• The substance, which seemed to first appear in Philadelphia before migrating west to San Francisco and Los Angeles, was used for cutting heroin, but, most recently, it has been discovered in fentanyl and other illicit drugs.
• While approved by the Food and Drug Administration for veterinary use, xylazine, a non-opioid, is not safe for humans, and those who overdose on the drug do not respond to naloxone, or Narcan, the most common overdose reversal treatment.

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