PHILADELPHIA – Zombie-like drug addicts are populating the streets of Philadelphia in what is being called the “tranq” drug epidemic. Horrifying new video demonstrates the crisis as stoned individuals stumble in a trance-like state along sidewalks strewn with burning trash heaps and other people sprawled out on the walkways, giving it the appearance of a horrific crime scene.
The epicenter is in the Kensington neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia. It has become notorious for its open-air drug market. A video posted on TikTok by thebizzleeffect shows hordes of drug-addled people — many of them sprawled out unkempt and shoeless on the filthy ground, or slumped over in a semi-comatose condition.
Others are seen passed out in one of the makeshift homeless encampments saturating the crime-ridden neighborhood, reported the New York Post.
The stunning video highlights Democrat-controlled Philadelphia’s apparent failure to get a handle on the rising use of the drug xylazine, better known as “tranq.” It’s a powerful horse and cattle sedative used to enhance the effects of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl, as if these controlled substances need to be intensified.
@thebizzleeffect Awareness Matters! In Order To Deal With This Epidemic We Must Learn And Have Awareness Of Whats Going On! Together We Can Fight This One Person At A Time! Never Judge,Have Compassion,Empathy Of The People Because It Could Be Any Of Us Out Here! KareAndAssist 💕💯🙌🏾🙏🏾🫂
Piles of garbage are seen littering the streets of Kensington, where men and women living with crippling drug addiction have taken up residence. For many, it is also where they will die.
Kensington’s business owners are desperate and have resorted to using booby traps and “hacks” for protection, a recovering heroin addict-turned-activist, Frank Rodriguez, told Fox News.
“There are businesses that set up sprinkler systems, so they can just be inside and hit a button and the sprinkler system goes off,” Rodriguez said.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, labeled xylazine an “emerging threat” earlier this year.
According to the DEA, individuals who inject drug mixtures laced with “tranq” can also develop gaping wounds, including necrosis — the rotting of flesh — that may lead to amputation.
Alarmingly, xylazine was discovered in more than 90% of the drug samples tested in Philadelphia in 2021, according to city data.
Local health officials previously acknowledged the “City of Brotherly Love” has been overwhelmed by the “tranq” epidemic, The Post reported.
“Xylazine has hit Philadelphia particularly hard, causing increased overdose deaths as well as severe wounds that can lead to sepsis and amputation,” the Philadelphia Department of Health and Board of Health said in a joint statement in April.
