A street drug which rots the skin of those who use it has been designated an “emerging threat to the nation” by the White House.
The unprecedented announcement, by the Biden administration’s Office for National Drug Control Policy, reflects the alarming speed at which ‘Tranq’ is spreading across America.
Last month, Sky News revealed the impact Tranq – a mixture of the opioid fentanyl and the animal tranquiliser Xylazine – is having on communities in Philadelphia.
Since then, data suggests use of the drug is spreading rapidly all over the country.
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New drug rotting user’s skin
Speaking to reporters, the head of the White House Office for National Drug Control Policy, Dr. Rahul Gupta expressed alarm at the prevalence of the cocktail.
“I’m deeply concerned about what this threat means for the nation,” he said, adding: “This is the first time in our nation’s history that a substance is being designated as an emerging threat by any administration,”
With help from volunteer medics and outreach workers we were shown the horrific wounds caused by the drug which is smoked, snorted or injected. Unusually the wounds appear randomly on the body.
Frequently, they are deep, they heal slowly and in many cases they lead to amputation.
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Image: Wounds appear randomly on the body of ‘Tranq’ users
Health officials in Philadelphia, speaking to Sky News last month, admitted they do not have a grip of their city’s crisis and warned that it would spread to other parts of the country.
Newly analysed data now shows a 1000% increase in overdoses linked to Tranq in southern American states suggesting a rapid and alarming spread.
The US is already experiencing a drug overdose crisis with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Overdoses have surged to more than 100,000 a year.
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What is ‘Tranq’? The new drug emerging in America
Dealers are now cutting, or mixing, fentanyl with Xylazine creating the ‘Tranq’ cocktail to lower their costs and increase demand.
Users told Sky News that the new cocktail increases their addiction levels driving them to more hits a day.
White House officials formally notified Congress about the public health threat on Wednesday and say they will roll out a plan to tackle the crisis over the next 90 days.
Measures are likely to include more testing for users so they can identify if Xylazine is contained in their drug supply. Dr Gupta has also called for more funding for accessible treatment for users.
In Philadelphia, users told us adequate and accessible treatment was not easily available. America’s insurance-based health system significantly complicates the challenge.
Xylazine is readily available to dealers on the open market. It is used legally by veterinarians as an animal tranquilizer.
The Drug Policy Alliance advocates for harm reduction but also highlights the harm caused by drug prohibition.
In a statement, they told Sky News: “The Biden Administration must learn from the mistakes of the past.
“Crackdowns on prescription opioids and heroin created the conditions for fentanyl analogues to flourish and overtake the drug supply.
“And now history is once again repeating itself, with newer, potentially more harmful substances like Xylazine popping up and already overtaking some markets.
“Make no mistake, focusing on supply-side interdiction will only dig us deeper into this crisis and inevitably result in more loss of life.”
Buckingham Palace previously only said the visit would happen “when diaries allow”, but Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday: “I think they are setting a date for September.”
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one,” he said.
“The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
Image: Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: PA
Mr Trump will become the only elected political leader in modern times to be invited to two state visits by a British monarch.
The president called the UK a “great country” in his comments at the White House on Thursday and said it was “an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William”.
His first state visit was in 2019, when he was hosted by the late Queen.
Second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit usually get tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
Image: The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
But Mr Trump is set to get all the pomp and ceremony laid on again in his honour – with another state banquet likely at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Family‘s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of currying favour with the president, who’s known for his love of the monarchy and links to the UK through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
It comes as the government seeks an economic deal with the US, in the hope of potentially lessening the impact of the president’s tariffs.
Four people are in hospital as police deal with an active shooter on a university campus in Florida.
Videos showed people running through traffic, fleeing the scene, around the time of the shooting at the student union at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.
Local police were “on the scene or on the way”, according to an alert sent out by the school and students have been told to “shelter in place”.
The FBI is also said to be responding to the incident.
Image: Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne
In a statement, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it was “actively receiving and caring for patients” from the incident.
“At this time, details are still unfolding, and we do not yet have specific information to share. However, we want to assure the community that our teams are fully mobilised and prepared to provide the highest level of care and support to all those affected,” it added.
President Donald Trump said he was fully briefed on the incident and described it as “a shame”.
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He added: “It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, in a statement posted on X, said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles raced to the campus around midday local time (5pm UK time) on Thursday.
As students streamed away from the area of the student union in their hundreds, some were visibly emotional and others were glued to their phones.
Dozens later gathered near the university’s music school, waiting for news.
Florida State University student Daniella Streety told NBC News of the chaos that unfolded at the scene.
She remained on lockdown in a campus building and said: “I did see them carry out one student in what looked like on a stretcher and kept them in the road until an ambulance was able to pick them up.”
Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.
Police escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
A US federal judge has warned that he could hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.
US District Judge James E. Boasberg said he had found “probable cause” to hold the administration in criminal contempt and warned he could refer the matter for prosecution if it does not “purge” its contempt.
If the government doesn’t purge the contempt, charges could be brought forward by the Justice Department, NBC News reported.
And if the executive-led Justice Department refused to prosecute the matter, Judge Boasberg said he would appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.
Mr Boasberg said the administration could “purge contempt by returning those who were sent to El Salvador prison, in violation of his order, to the US.
This, he said, “might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability”.
“The Constitution does not tolerate wilful disobedience of judicial orders – especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” the judge wrote.
Executive vs judicial
This marks a notable escalation in the ongoing tensions between the judicial and executive branches of the US government during Donald Trump’s second term.
Parts of the US president’s legislative programme have been halted by judges, as the administration strains against the restraints of the separation of powers.
Mr Trump previously called for Judge Boasberg to be impeached while the Justice Department claimed he overstepped his authority – both reflecting the administration’s attempts to overcome perceived obstacles to the implementation of its agenda.
Mr Trump’s administration has also argued it did not violate any orders.
It claimed the judge didn’t include a turnaround directive in his written order and said the planes had already left the US by the time the order came down.
‘Administrative error’
At the heart of the legal wrangling is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.
Washington acknowledged that Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”.
The US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return, upholding a court order by Judge Paula Xinis, but Trump officials have claimed that Mr Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang.
Image: Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA/AP
Mr Garcia’s lawyers have argued there is no evidence of this.
This all comes after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele visited the White House earlier this week.
During his time with Mr Trump, Mr Bukele said that he would not return Mr Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
Image: The US and El Salvador presidents in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Along with Mr Garcia, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, whom it claims are gang members without presenting evidence and without a trial.
Democrat senator travels to El Salvador
Meanwhile, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday, saying he would seek a meeting with the country’s officials to secure Mr Garcia’s release.
“I just arrived in San Salvador a little while ago and look forward to meeting with the US embassy team to discuss Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release,” Mr Van Hollen said on social media.
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