"The staff at harm reduction hub Sunshine House in the middle of Kensington, a neighborhood in north-east Philadelphia home to the most notorious open drug scene in the US, often reverse at least one overdose per day. But the mutating illegal drug supply is regularly conjuring new drugs with novel sets of potentially deadly risks. For the past 18 months, there has been a new drug in circulation, the veterinary sedative medetomidine, also known as rhino tranq."
"No one knows how it works. Well known locally, Pichardo says she has personally reversed more than 3,000 overdoses since the busy hub opened in 2018. But medetomidine complicates matters because people remain unconscious after the fentanyl overdose has been reversed. It's causing havoc on people's organs, Pichardo says of the medetomidine, which is causing even younger people to experience organ failure."
Sunshine House in Kensington treats frequent overdoses, often reversing at least one overdose daily. The illegal drug supply is mutating, introducing medetomidine (rhino tranq), a veterinary sedative circulating for 18 months. Medetomidine produces extreme, fast-acting withdrawal and leaves people unconscious even after naloxone reverses fentanyl. The drug is associated with severe organ damage and even organ failure in younger users. Kensington’s open drug scene features numerous dealers, public stupor, and outreach challenges. Narcan restores breathing but does not repair organ injury. Sunshine House provides clothing, supplies, and overdose reversal services to people who use drugs.
#medetomidine-rhino-tranq #fentanyl-adulteration #overdose-reversal #harm-reduction #kensington-philadelphia
Read at www.theguardian.com
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