The British government announced Wednesday it will pass legislation to control 16 drugs that were not previously regulated.
Among the soon-to-be-regulated substances was xylazine, a controversial veterinary medication known as a “zombie drug,” which causes exhaustion and skin lesions that resist healing. Caroline Copeland, the director of the National Programme on Substance Use Morality and a senior lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology at King’s College London, spoke on the government’s plans to crack down on the use of xylazine, describing the substance as a “potent synthetic drug [which is used as] an adulterant in other drugs.”
The decision was influenced by a report on the use of xylazine by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. The council stated that though there was “little evidence that individuals are actively seeking to use xylazine,” it is commonly used in conjunction with other drugs to ‘increase and/or prolong [their] sedative effects’.
Xylazine is among many other drugs the UK government plans to criminalize. The announcement states that xylazine is “one of 22 harmful substances that will be banned under the new legislation, 6 of which will be controlled as class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.” Producing or supplying any of the class A drugs may result in “life in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.” Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson is quoted by the UK government saying:
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, and the changes being introduced this week will also make it easier to crack down on those suppliers who are trying to circumvent our controls.
The US White House has also described xylazine as an emerging threat, especially in combination with fentanyl. It has left regulation up to states on an individual basis, however.
