Democrat-run Philadelphia’s Kensington area is filled with people addicted to the drug called Xylazine, also known as “tranq,” and content creators are using the dire situation for their own gain, the Messenger News reported Sunday.
“Tranq” can put users in an extremely lethargic state and make them exhibit behaviors that resemble zombies, according to Messenger News.
The “zombie drug” can also eat a user’s flesh, according to a Breitbart News article published in July.
Images show what appears to be addicts on the streets of Philadelphia:
TikTokkers slammed for filming Philadelphia drug users in ‘tranq tourism’ https://t.co/U4FLlxVC7N pic.twitter.com/Q5VONtAht4
— New York Post (@nypost) December 17, 2023
The Messenger News report continued:
Content creators have capitalized on drug users, paying them small amounts of money to let creators videotape them using the drug and experiencing the side effects as part of a dark category of content called “tranq tourism.”
Xylazine is only approved for veterinary use as it’s not an opioid so its effects cannot be reversed by medication like Narcan, therefore it results in more deaths. In the past few years, the sedative has rapidly spread across the nation, showing up in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods where it’s cut with other potent drugs such as fentanyl.
Many of the TikTok and YouTube videos show addicts when they are in a physical state that renders them most likely not able to consent to be filmed, the outlet noted.
The content has received a lot of criticism from people and organizations accusing creators of exploiting individuals suffering from addiction.
Geri-Lynn Utter, a clinical psychologist who specializes in addiction, said, “It’s detrimental because it isn’t helping. It’s continuing to dehumanize. These people are not in the right frame of mind to consent or participate in a social media clip.”
Social media users had a lot to say regarding the report about the content creators, one person writing, “How dare tokkers show what we have been hiding??? Lol.”
“This is on the government for their barbaric public policies,” another person wrote, while someone else said, “Shouldn’t the politicians be slammed? For allowing these conditions?”
For some time, “tranq” has been taking a heavy toll on Philadelphians. In April, “United States government officials deemed Xylazine an ’emerging threat’ while asking Congress for more funds to fight the drug that has been linked to overdose deaths,” according to Breitbart News.
