Wow! You may now be thinking we have really lost our marbles with a blog title like the one above. But before you jump to some wild conclusions, let us aim you in the right direction in our attempt today to expose a danger that potentially lies ahead for our Nation. Now, we are not at all “zombie” believers. We will admit there seems to be a rather large following within our country who seem to be mesmerized by this particular topic. There are those who will dress up as zombies for conventions, and who may even attend “The Living Dead Weekend” in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (Evans City) this coming October. Believe it or not, it is the 45th anniversary of this event. There is also a similar event in Monroeville in June. One can even get stickers to go on your vehicle claiming you are part of the “Zombie Outbreak Response Team”. How about the wide variety of bumper stickers available to affix to your vehicle, like “My zombie ate your honor student’s brains”, or one of our favorites which we have personally seen, “I Don’t Brake for Zombies”. Zombie movies have been around for more than 80 years. In 1932 we got “White Zombies”, and in 1943 we got “I Walked with a Zombie”. Zombies appeared in literature as far back as 1697 (history.com; June 10, 2019). Zombies were even getting their “groove on” in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. “A zombie, according to pop culture and folklore, is usually either a reawakened corpse with a ravenous appetite or someone bitten by another zombie infected with a ‘zombie virus’.” “Zombies are usually portrayed as strong but robotic beings with rotting flesh. their only mission is to feed.” (history.com; June 10, 2019.) Here in lies the crux of our blog today.
We are pretty sure that the vast majority of our blog readers have not become familiar with the new form of addictive drug that is inundating our society today. The drug is called “Xylazine”. It is a clear liquid and is also known as “tranq”. “Xylazine was first synthesized by Bayer in 1962 and then approved as an animal medicine by the FDA in 1972” (drugs.com; November 10, 2022). It “. . . is a pharmaceutical drug used for sedation, anesthesia, muscle relaxation, and analgesia in animals such as horses, cattle, and other non-human mammals.” (Wikipedia.) “Xylazine, a fast-acting central nervous system depressant that is not approved for human use, is showing up largely in fentanyl, the ultra-potent synthetic opioid that is mixed into heroin and pressed into counterfeit pills and responsible for more overdose deaths than any other drug. Adding xylazine to fentanyl, which is also a depressant, increases the already high odds of overdose. It’s a double whammy to the central nervous system.” (news.yahoo.com; September 23, 2022; Georgea Kovanis.) The number of deaths attributed to Xylazine “is certainly an undercount. Most hospital emergency department drug tests are not calibrated to detect xylazine and since a xylazine overdose looks similar to an opioid overdose . . .they’re often mistaken for heroin or fentanyl overdoses. In addition, medical examiners don’t always look for xylazine post-mortem.” “Narcan . . . may reverse an opioid overdose if given in a timely manner. But it only works on opioids. And xylazine is not an opioid.” (news.yahoo.com; September 23, 2022; Georgea Kovanis.) “. . . repeated exposure to xylazine may lead to dependence, addiction and withdrawal symptoms, which may include agitation or severe anxiety when doses are decreased or stopped. These side effects may lead to continued abuse and undermine any efforts to treat an ongoing opioid use disorder (OUD)” (drugs.com; November 10, 2022). As of the writing of the preceding quote, “It is not yet known if xylazine is produced illegally or diverted from the veterinary drug supply. The FDA is continuing to investigate the source and will report when more information is available.” It is really unknown how many drug deaths were found with xylazine present. “A study from 2022 found that illicitly manufactured fentanyl was present in 98.4 % of overdose deaths where xylazine was also present. Other drugs detected with xylazine included cocaine (45.4%), benzodiazepines (28.4%), heroin (23.3%), alcohol (19.7%), as well as gabapentin, methadone, and prescription opioids.” (drugs.com; November 10, 2022.)
Here is where our blog comes into greater focus. “Use of xylazine is linked to grotesque skin ulcers that turn into craters of rot. It’s ‘not even a normal abscess’. ‘This is more like tissue death. This is black, necrotic tissue destruction.’ And the necrotic tissue doesn’t necessarily develop at the site where the drug was injected. There’s evidence it can appear anywhere on the body.” So why do drug users prefer to use Xylazine? “A fentanyl high is more intense than a heroin high, but it is also relatively short-lived. Drug users . . . have told researchers that xylazine extends the feeling of euphoria they get from a fentanyl high.” (news.yahoo.com; September 23, 2022; Georgea Kovanis.) “Xylazine is not listed as a government-controlled substance, so it ends up in a legal grey area.” “Users can be knocked out for hours, and there’s a mysterious flesh-eating effect that leaves some users with horrific, hard to heal wounds that can lead to amputation.” (abc7chicago.com; February 9, 2023; Maggie Green.)
With the knowledge you now have about this new curse brought upon our society, we need to be more diligent to make every effort to eradicate this disease sweeping through our Nation. We must make Xylazine impossible for the general public to get and make it a “government-controlled substance”. Any unauthorized manufacture, distribution, purchase or use must be dealt with swiftly and forcefully. This will help stem the flow of this zombie drug into our society. The other action that must be taken is to zero in on those who are using these drugs. Safe drug use locations, building tiny homes for them to reside in so they can “use” their preferred drug in the privacy of their “own little home”, will never solve the root problem. It would be comparable to frosting a cake before it is baked. Our Nation is being attacked on every front. One attack front that is eating away at the soul of our Nation is our lack of concern for the homeless, drug addicted masses. It is much easier to ignore them, than to even recognize them. Shuffling the homeless and drug addicted from one location to another only moves the real problem from one area to another. Mark our words. If we do not attack this issue head on, we will have a front-row seat to “Xylazine and the Coming Apocalypse”. Many of these individuals will become more and more addicted, and when they wake up from their near-death sleep, they will need another “fix” to keep their addiction intact. They will walk around with sores and cavernous wounds as they commit acts of violence and destruction looking for something they can steal and sell to be able to afford their addiction. If you are in the way, you will be an impediment to their overwhelming desire, and they will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal, unconcerned of any potential consequences. Establishing a “Zombie Outbreak Response Team” is not the answer. A recent debate for the governorship of a west coast state had both the Republican and Democrat candidates stating that mandatory drug treatment would not be required as a prerequisite to providing the addicted homeless state funded housing. When does it ever make sense to give out rewards before the race is even begun? Again, this weak approach to those who are drug addicted only moves the real problem from one area to another. The real honest and brave answer resides in a communal intervention with each individual involved in these drugs to bring them into a recovery protocol.
Our FREEDOM and LIBERTY are at stake. The foundation of our Nation is being eaten away at the very lowest levels, eating away at the very flesh of those individuals who reside in a constant state of dependency upon drugs. If we cannot take care of them, what does this declare to the world, but more importantly, to our Creator who gave us everything while we were yet consumed in our own decay, eating away at our very souls, in sinful addictions (Romans 5:8-10)?