A new ‘zombie’ street drug that is more deadly than xylazine is causing overdoses across America.
Medetomidine – a powerful animal tranquilizer used on dogs and cats – is thought to be behind a spate of drug overdose deaths in Chicago this month and appearing in drug supplies in eight other states.
The sedative is being mixed with fentanyl and other street drugs to create deadly cocktails, similar to another drug known as xylazine which began cropping up in illicit supplies during the Covid pandemic.
But officials say it’s estimated to be 200 times more powerful than xylazine and could lead to many of the same shocking side effects – including leaving users in a zombified state.
The green states show where medetomidine has emerged, including California, Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Florida and North Carolina. The yellow circles represent where overdose outbreaks have occurred, such as Chicago
The DEA says xylazine has now been detected in 48 out of 50 states in the US. A study published in December and involving 60,000 US adult drug tests showed xylazine was detected in samples from most states (pictured above)