UK government wants to ban ‘zombie drug’ xylazine

The British government on Wednesday announced a law banning the so-called “zombie drug” xylazine and 21 other medicines in a bid to reduce deaths and crack down on criminal gangs.

The very strong animal tranquilizer, also called “tranq”, often causes long-term users to become unresponsive and suffer from skin lesions that do not heal.

According to the UK Home Office, it is increasingly being used in combination with opioids such as heroin. Traces have also been found in cannabis vapes.

Researchers from King’s College London said the drug was “widespread” on the UK drug market.

Other drugs that will be banned include new forms of nitasenes, highly addictive synthetic opioids that can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and can easily lead to overdoses.

The UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act establishes three separate categories of “controlled drugs”, with Class A drugs considered the most dangerous and punished the most severely. The new legislation would make xylazine a Class C drug. Anyone caught producing or supplying Class C drugs could face an unlimited fine, a prison sentence of up to 14 years, or both. The Home Office said other countries that have seen a rise in its abuse, including the US, where xylazine overdose deaths rose 30-fold between 2018 and 2021, have not yet taken similar measures.

“We have seen what happens in other countries when the use of these drugs gets out of control, which is why we are among the first countries to take action and protect our communities from these dangerous new drugs,” said Police Minister Diana Johnson.

“The changes being implemented this week also make it easier to take tough action against suppliers who try to circumvent our checks,” she said.