New Drugs Laws to Tackle Xylazine Use

Government Introduce New Laws To Stem Trend of “Tranq” Drug Fad.

Legislation has been laid in Parliament to ban xylazine and 21 other dangerous drugs as part of the government’s action to prevent drug deaths and crack down on drug dealing gangs.

Xylazine, often known as ‘tranq’, is a high-strength veterinary sedative, which has increasingly been used in combination with opioids such as heroin as a cheap means of stretching out each dose. It has also been found in cannabis vapes.

How much of an issue is “tranq” use?

Xylazine-involved overdose deaths in the United States rose from 102 to 3,468 in the space of just 3 years between 2018 and 2021, and its effects on long-term users – often leaving them immobilised in the street, and prone to non-healing skin lesions – have led to its characterisation as the ‘zombie drug’.

To date xylazine has been much less frequently detected in Europe than in North America, however mixtures containing xylazine with the synthetic opioids protonitazene or metonitazene have been seized in Estonia. In a survey in Riga, Latvia, xylazine was co-detected in 13% of used syringes, with the synthetic opioids isotonitazene, metonitazene or carfentanil.

The use of “Tranqs” as an alternative to Heroin

As a result of the prohibition of cultivation of opium poppies and of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan by the Taliban in April 2022, there has been a 95% reduction in the areas cultivating opium poppies between 2022 and 2023. This resulted in a 95% decline in both the opium harvested and export heroin produced from 6,200 tons and 350-580 tons respectively in 2022 and to 333 tons and 24-38 tons respectively in 2023.

There is increasing concern that, with the reduction in availability of heroin from Afghanistan, the European and UK illicit opioid markets may shift to illicitly synthesised fentanyl. There is the potential that this would be associated with increased risk of xylazine in the UK illicit opioid market.

What is being proposed?

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. Anyone caught producing or supplying these class A drugs could face up to life in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.

Among the drugs covered by the legislation are new variations of nitazenes, highly addictive synthetic opioids, which can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin and therefore carry an increased risk of accidental overdose.

The statutory instrument will also introduce into law a new generic definition of nitazenes, which will prevent drug gangs from attempting to use minor adjustments to their synthetic compound to try and bypass UK drug laws.

What drugs are going to be included?

The drugs to be controlled as class A substances include:

• AP-237
• AP-238
• azaprocin
• para-methyl-AP-237
• para-nitroazaprocin
• 2-methyl-AP-237

The drugs to be controlled as class C substances include:

• xylazine
• bentazepam
• bretazenil
• 4’-chloro-deschloroalprazolam
• clobromazolam
• cloniprazepam
• desalkylgidazepam
• deschloroclotizolam
• difludiazepam
• flubrotizolam
• fluclotizolam
• fluetizolam
• gidazepam
• methylclonazepam
• rilmazafone
• thionordazepam

The changes are expected to come into force later this year or in early 2025, depending on the parliamentary process.

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