THE Government is set to ban the “zombie” drug known as “tranq” which is a flesh-rotting animal tranquiliser used in vapes.
Xylazine, which is strong enough to knock out an elephant, leaves users lifeless and has been linked to 11 deaths here since 2022.
It already has a hold in the US where cities like New York and Philadelphia have turned into so-called “zombielands”.
The Labour Government has now put forward legislation to ban tranq along with 21 other dangerous drugs.
Among the drugs covered by the legislation are new variations of nitazenes, highly addictive synthetic opioids, which can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin and therefore carry an increased risk of accidental overdose.
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.
“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 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 current drug laws, 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 be jailed for life, an unlimited fine or both.
People caught in possession of Class B face up to five years in prison, while anyone found carrying Class Cs can be jailed for two years.
Xylazine-involved overdose deaths in the US rose from 102 to 3,468 in the space of just 3 years between 2018 and 2021, and its effects on long-term users – often leaving them immobilised in the street, and prone to non-healing skin lesions – have led to its characterisation as the “zombie drug”.
In April 2023, the White House designated xylazine combined with fentanyl as an “emerging drug threat”, which has enabled the implementation of an action plan at the federal level to tackle the threat, and which often precedes scheduling a drug as a controlled substance.
Some individual US states, including Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, have already implemented their own bans.
