An animal tranquilizer is making street drugs even more dangerous

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Profound sedation" worries health providers
Some people who use drugs say xylazine knocks them out for six to eight hours, raising concerns about the potential for serious injury during this "profound sedation," said Dr. Laura Kehoe, medical director at Massachusetts General Hospital's Substance Use Disorders Bridge Clinic.

Kehoe and other clinicians worry about patients sedated by xylazine who are lying in the sun or snow, perhaps in an isolated area. They could be vulnerable to compression injuries from lying in one position, or they could be attacked.

"We're seeing people who've been sexually assaulted," Kehoe said. "They'll wake up and find that their pants are down or their clothes are missing, and they are completely unaware of what happened."

Kehoe argues that the surge of xylazine heightens the need for supervised consumption clinics, where people can use drugs under the watch of trained staff. Legislation that would have allowed a pilot program in Massachusetts died in committee at the State House this year."...