Concerns by Kenya’s anti-drugs abuse organization, Nacada have been raised about drug addicts injecting animal tranquilizers as an alternative to heroin .
It comes after videos that have been widely shared on social media of people in the coastal area who are allegedly drug users can be seen in “zombie-like” poses .
In a statement released on Sunday, Nacada claimed that, contrary to popular belief, it had not detected any fentanyl in the samples it had taken. Fentanyl is a deadly synthetic opioid that is many times more powerful than heroin.
It was discovered that the symptoms were brought on by a high dose of heroin as well as a combination of heroin and other drugs like xylazine (a veterinary tranquilizer), prescription drugs, and other substances.
The misuse of veterinary medications, according to Nacada, “presents a potential public health crisis” in the treatment of drug overdose cases.
In a statement, it stated that “With the emerging evidence of non-medical use of veterinary drugs, there is urgent need to institute measures to regulate and control the diversion of such drugs into the illegal market”.
Source-BBC
