XPost: alt.drugs.fentanyl, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: joe.stalks.little.boys@gmail.com   
      
   On 10 Feb 2022, Rafael Ted Cruz  posted some   
   news:su40i5$166dq$101@news.freedyn.de:   
      
   > Lee wrote   
   >   
   > I'll be sucking dicks at the Black Anus tonight.   
   >   
      
   It extends the feeling of an opiate high. It's hard to detect and can't be   
   reversed by medications like Narcan. It's immediately recognizable by the   
   gruesome, scaly wounds that emerge on users' skin, and can even cause   
   injuries to their lungs. And in some parts of the United States, experts   
   say it's in as much as 90% of the drug supply.   
      
   It's a veterinary sedative called xylazine, and experts and officials are   
   racing to figure out where it's coming from and how to help people who are   
   taking it, even as it's increasingly being identified in overdoses.   
      
   "At this point, colleagues and I are trying to crowdsource together as   
   much information as we can, because there's just no organized network and   
   this drug is so new," said Claire Zagorski, a chemist, paramedic and   
   translational scientist in Austin, Texas. "There's very little research   
   out there about how it behaves in humans. We're seeing really rough   
   wounds. ... We aren't going to be able to understand how to prevent or   
   treat these issues if we don't know what's going on."   
      
   Experts spoke to CBS News about what trends they're seeing now, what the   
   risks of xylazine are and how people can help if they are bystanders to an   
   overdose involving xylazine.   
      
   What is xylazine?   
   Xylazine is a sedative and muscle relaxer used on large animals like   
   horses, and is not approved for use in humans, said Dr. Sherri Kacinko, a   
   forensic toxicologist at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania who studies xylazine and   
   other substances.   
      
   It was first detected being used by humans in Puerto Rico in the early   
   2000s, said Kacinko, and has been reported in the United States for   
   several years. First reports of its use in Philadelphia emerged in 2008,   
   Kacinko said, with more common use being reported in 2019 — by 2023, it   
   was present in most states in the country, and Jose Benitez, the lead   
   executive officer of harm reduction organization Prevention Point, said it   
   is found in 90% of Philadelphia's drug supply.   
      
   It has been found in multiple overdoses, but because it is combined with   
   other substances like fentanyl or heroin, experts said it was hard to   
   account for how responsible it was for those overdoses.   
      
   "It is difficult to know which substance contributes most to fatality when   
   an individual has more than one substance in their body at the time they   
   died," Benitez said.   
      
   In humans, xylazine extends the half-life of fentanyl, the effects of   
   which typically last only one to three hours. With a shorter half-life,   
   people have to use "a lot more often" to avoid withdrawal symptoms, said   
   Alixe Dittmore, a training and content development coordinator with the   
   National Harm Reduction Coalition who provides direct care to people who   
   use drugs. When combined with xylazine, the effects usually last four to   
   six hours.   
      
   xylazine.jpg   
   Xylazine in a vial.   
   CBS NEWS   
   "We say it adds legs. It kind of gives the illusion that your opiate high   
   is lasting longer than it is," Dittmore said. "When in reality, what's   
   happening is the opiates have started to wear off of your system around   
   that one- to three-hour mark, depending on your tolerance and use, and   
   then you still have the xylazine, so what happens is people still have   
   that sedative effect and you're seeing a lot more injuries."   
      
   A recent import alert from the Food and Drug Administration aims to   
   restrict unlawful importing of xylazine, but Zagorski said that it's   
   unclear where xylazine is coming from, with no obvious culprit or single   
   source of the substance.   
      
   "One of the things that makes this really unique and odd is the xylazine   
   we're seeing in the drug supply is being sourced from aboveground. It's   
   not being cooked in labs, it's being diverted from veterinary suppliers,   
   and the specific source of that isn't clear," she said. Chemical evidence   
   shows that the xylazine being found is "purely made," which Zagorski said   
   was "very uncommon for the illicit drug supply, especially at this scale."   
      
   Why is xylazine harmful?   
   Xylazine is a central nervous system depressant, Dittmore said, which has   
   a sedative effect and depresses breathing. It is not an opiate, but those   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)