Health officials in New York City raised eyebrows over a new initiative for dispensing tips on how junkies can more safely use the potent addictive drug known as “tranq” but failed to offer advice on how to get off of the dangerous “zombie drug” that is laying waste to lives in the Big Apple and other Democrat-controlled cities.
In the New York City Department of Health’s taxpayer-funded ad campaign, addicts are informed of the effects of Xylazine, a potentially lethal animal tranquilizer that is often used to amplify the effects of other illegal drugs including fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin. The agency advises of the dangers and side effects of usage but stops short of helping those who are hooked to kick the habit, the optimal solution.
One informational poster provides details on how to contact nonprofits that will provide tests on whether their drugs are laced with Xylazine which “can cause extreme sedation, slowed heart rate or slowed or stopped breathing,” and says to call emergency services if a user suffers from “skin wounds,” of the type that are the reason why tranq is referred to as the “flesh-eating” drug, as well as suggesting using it while under supervision.
(Image: Screengrab/NYC)
But the city’s ad campaign has drawn criticism from those who are quick to point out its major shortcomings, one of them being Manhattan Institute for Public Policy fellow Charles Fain Lehman who told the New York Post that the agency’s “woke harm reduction priorities are entirely twisted.”
“It’s important to recognize that the [Health Department] in its public messaging is foregoing entirely a basic commitment to public health, which is this idea that drugs are bad — they hurt people,” Lehman said. “It’s not just about minimizing harmful use; it’s about minimizing use [altogether].”
“They ain’t showing us how to keep ourselves safe,” one 35-year-old tranq addict told the outlet, expressing his own dismay at the city’s misguided approach who blamed the drug for the “pus-oozing” sores that are one of the substance’s major adverse side effects. “They’re telling us about it but not telling us what to do about it.”
“That’s a pretty weird way [for the city] to approach it. There’s not too many positives” another user of the drug, 38-year-old John Dunlavie said, according to the paper. “It’s a bad drug!”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) a Republican member of Congress who hails from Staten Island blasted the ad campaign and accused city officials of “enabling drug use and addiction by … operating injection centers and vending machines with free drug paraphernalia instead of providing treatment for addicts, cracking down on dealers and traffickers and telling [President Joe] Biden to shut down the southern border to stop the cartels who are profiting from poisoning Americans.”
The drug first caught the media’s attention for its prevalence in areas of Philadelphia, some of which look like scenes out of “The Walking Dead” or some other sci-fi zombie movie, and it has made its way north into New York as well as other East Coast locales.
(Video: YouTube/Pix11)
According to the CDC, “An animal tranquilizer called xylazine is increasingly being found in the US illicit drug supply and linked to overdose deaths. Xylazine—which is not approved for use in people—can be life-threatening and is especially dangerous when combined with opioids like fentanyl. Due to its impact on the opioid crisis, fentanyl mixed (adulterated) with xylazine has been declared an emerging threat by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.”
Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
- Court denies motion to dismiss suit over Illinois city’s racist reparations program - March 31, 2026
- Iran responds to Trump ultimatum by hitting oil tanker, new Supreme Leader speaks - March 31, 2026
- Swalwell plays victim as he’s pounded over Kash Patel’s possible release of files on him and ‘Fang Fang’ - March 30, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.