‘Zombie drug’ xylazine to be banned under new law

A bill has been introduced in parliament to ban xylazine and 21 other dangerous drugs, part of the government’s efforts to prevent drug-related deaths and crack down on drug-dealing gangs.

Photo: King’s College London

Xylazine, often known as Tranq’, is a powerful animal tranquilizer that is increasingly being used in conjunction with opioids like heroin as a cheap way to stretch out each dose. It has also been found in cannabis vaporizers.

Xylazine overdose deaths in the U.S. rose from 102 to 3,468 in just three years, from 2018 to 2021, and its effects on long-term users — often leaving them stranded on the street and prone to non-healing skin lesions — have led to it being dubbed the “zombie drug.”

In response to a recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), legislation was this week introduced in Parliament to control xylazine as a Class C drug – a step that has not yet been taken in the US, Canada, Mexico or other countries around the world affected by xylazine misuse.

Xylazine is one of 22 harmful substances that will be banned under the new law, six of which will be controlled as Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Anyone caught producing or supplying these Class A drugs could face life imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both.

Scientists from King’s College London warn that a wider group of drug users than heroin users could also be at risk of the harmful effects of xylazine.

Their findings, published in April, come after a team from the National Substance Misuse Deaths Programme at King’s reported the death of a 43-year-old man from Solihull, West Midlands, in May 2022. It is the first death outside North America and the first in the UK linked to xylazine use.

“We already know that xylazine has entered the UK illicit drug market. This is a cause for concern as a much wider population of drug users beyond heroin users will be at risk of its harmful effects,” said Dr Caroline Copeland, from the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London.

“Xylazine has been identified as a ‘modern threat’ to the United States, and this public health risk is of increasing concern in the UK.”

The drugs covered by the law include new varieties of nitazenes – highly addictive synthetic opioids that can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin and therefore carry an increased risk of accidental overdose.

The statutory instrument will also introduce a new general definition of nitazenes into the law, which will prevent drug gangs from trying to use minor changes to their synthetic compound to circumvent UK drug laws. The changes are expected to come into force later this year or early 2025, depending on the parliamentary process.

Police Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “One of the key priorities of the new Government is to keep our streets safe. We will not tolerate the use of substances that put lives at risk and allow drug gangs to profit from the exploitation of vulnerable people.

“We have seen what happens in other countries where the use of these drugs is allowed to grow unchecked. That is why we are one of the first countries to take action and protect our communities from these dangerous new drugs.

“Criminals who produce, distribute and profit from these drugs will have to face the full force of the law, and this week’s changes will also make it easier to prosecute those suppliers who try to circumvent our controls.”

In addition to the six substances controlled as Class A drugs, 16 will also be controlled as Class C drugs. If caught producing or supplying Class C drugs, the potential consequences include an unlimited fine, a prison sentence of up to 14 years, or both.

In April 2023, the White House designated xylazine combined with fentanyl as a “modern drug threat,” prompting a federal action plan to combat the threat, which often precedes the drug’s classification as a controlled substance. Some individual U.S. states, including Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, have already implemented their own bans.

Xylazine will continue to be available on veterinary prescription. However, it will only be available when legally prescribed and it will be an offence to possess or supply it unless in accordance with a statutory provision or under a Home Office controlled medicines licence.