A harrowing new video shows addicts stumbling in a trance-like state along sidewalks littered with piles of burning trash at the epicenter of Philadelphia’s “tranq” drug epidemic.
The Kensington neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia, known for its open-air drug markets, was seen swarming with hordes of drug addicts – many of them lying barefoot on the dirty ground, or slumped over in a video posted on TikTok by thebizzleeffect.
Some addicts appear to be unable to control their bodies as they are seen bending over and struggling to stand.
Others are seen passed out at random, or in one of the many makeshift homeless encampments that dot the crime-ridden neighborhood.
Piles of rubbish – some engulfed in flames – are seen littering the streets of Kensington, where men and women living with crippling drug addictions fight to survive.
Most of the zombie-like residents of Kensington have no tents and sleep directly on the ground in the middle of piles of rubbish, with their few possessions stuffed into plastic bags, shopping trolleys, backpacks or laundry baskets.
A video posted recently on TikTok shows zombie-like people stumbling around Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood in a drug-induced stupor.TikTok / @thebizzleeffect
The neighborhood became famous for its open-air drug market, where addicts took narcotics freely.TikTok / @thebizzleeffect
People are seen passed out or hunched over benches and littered streets of Kensington.TikTok / @thebizzleeffect
Others seem to have less names than dirty laundry behind them.
Desperate Kensington business owners have resorted to cryptic traps and “hacks” for protection, Frank Rodriguez, a recovering heroin addict and activist, told Fox News.
“There are businesses that provide sprinkler systems, so they can just be inside and push a button and the sprinkler system goes off,” Rodriguez said.
The troubling new video highlights Democrat-controlled Philadelphia’s apparent failure to address the growing use of the drug xylazine, better known as “tranq” — a powerful horse and cattle sedative used to enhance the effects of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl.
Kensington is “ground zero” of the “tranq” drug epidemic. Veterinary sedatives can cause horrific flesh wounds and necrosis. TikTok / @thebizzleeffect
The White House has declared “tranq” an “emerging threat” because of its dangerous effects. urbanvisuals2.0/Tiktok
The drug is so dangerous that Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, labeled it an “emerging threat” earlier this year.
People who inject the drug mixture laced with “tranq” can also develop gaping wounds, including necrosis – the rotting of flesh – which can lead to amputation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Xylazine was found in more than 90% of drug samples tested in Philadelphia in 2021, according to city data.
Philadelphia city leaders and health officials have struggled to deal with the drug epidemic. TikTok / @thebizzleeffect
Xylazine, or “tranq,” can cause the user’s flesh to rot, leading to amputation.Sky News
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stopped by Kensington in July and shared footage from his visit, writing in the caption, “The people I met in Kensington, PA, don’t care if you have an R or a D next to your name. Fentanyl, Violence and homelessness are the problem. That’s what we show to fix. America First.”
Philadelphia health officials have previously admitted that the “City of Brotherly Love” has been gripped by an epidemic of “tranq”.
“Xylazine has hit Philadelphia hard, causing an increase in overdose deaths as well as severe injuries that can lead to sepsis and amputation,” the Department of Health and the Philadelphia Board of Health said in a joint statement in April.
That same month, the Philadelphia Opioid Response Unit launched an action plan to address the “tranq” crisis by reaching out to local communities in an effort to increase prevention, partnering with schools and places of worship to promote anti-drug messaging, expanding access to treatment programs and joining forces with law enforcement agencies to openly disrupt the drug market.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
