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Sep 10, 2024 | 
onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Emmert Roberts |Caroline Copeland |Shane Darke |Michael Farrell
Recent media reports highlight that unintentional drug-related fatalities can occur while individuals are immersed in water in domestic settings. Over the last two decades in the United Kingdom there has been a mean of six unintentional drug-related deaths each year where individuals were found in a bath or hot tub. Multiple drug toxicity was implicated in the majority of cases, with opioids implicated in over half of all fatalities.
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Apr 10, 2024 | 
kcl.ac.uk | Caroline Copeland
Xylazine, a powerful animal tranquiliser linked to horrific side effects, is now widespread in the UK illicit drug market. In most cases xylazine is mixed with strong opioids, such as heroin or fentanyl, which is a common combination in the United States. However, xylazine was also detected in the absence of strong opioids alongside stimulant drugs such as cocaine, and found in items sold as counterfeit codeine and diazepam (Valium) tablets and even THC vapes.
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Oct 13, 2023 | 
kcl.ac.uk | Caroline Copeland |Paul Royall
Delivering opioid overdose reversal kits by drone could help stem the drug-related death crisis faced by the UK. In a study published today in Addiction, researchers from King's used real-world data of fatal opioid overdoses where a bystander was present to show that drones could have reached 78% of cases within seven minutes - the benchmark time for the arrival of emergency services for Category 1 calls in England- a huge increase on the 14% reached by ambulances.
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Oct 12, 2023 | 
onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Paul Royall |Patrick Courtney |Christine Goodair |Caroline Copeland
INTRODUCTION Opioids are used clinically for their analgesic effects [1]. Recreational opioid users seek their additional effects of euphoria and sedation [1]. Repeated opioid use can induce tolerance where larger doses are needed to produce the same ‘high’—doses sufficiently extreme to cause respiratory depression and death [1].
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Jun 14, 2023 | 
policinginsight.com | Caroline Copeland
The flesh-rotting “zombie drug” xylazine has been in the US. Now it’s in the UK. A toxicology report showed that a middle-aged man from Solihull, England, died from the effects of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. “ When xylazine is injected it can cause open wounds such as skin ulcers and abscesses to form. With long-term use, these lesions can become widespread across the arms and legs causing tissue death, hence its nickname: the zombie drug.
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Jun 14, 2023 | 
policinginsight.com | Caroline Copeland
The flesh-rotting “zombie drug” xylazine has been in the US. Now it’s in the UK. A toxicology report showed that a middle-aged man from Solihull, England, died from the effects of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. “ When xylazine is injected it can cause open wounds such as skin ulcers and abscesses to form. With long-term use, these lesions can become widespread across the arms and legs causing tissue death, hence its nickname: the zombie drug.
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May 28, 2023 | 
sciencealert.com | Caroline Copeland
The flesh-rotting "zombie drug" xylazine has been in the US. Now it's in the UK. A toxicology report showed that a middle-aged man from Solihull, England, died from the effects of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. Drug overdoses in the US have been increasing over the last 20 years, with over 100,000 overdose deaths reported in 2021, largely driven by opioids. It is one of the worst public health disasters to have ever affected the US and Canada.
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May 26, 2023 | 
medicalxpress.com | Caroline Copeland
The flesh-rotting "zombie drug" xylazine has been in the US. Now it's in the UK. A toxicology report showed that a middle-aged man from Solihull, England, died from the effects of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. Drug overdoses in the US have been increasing over the last 20 years, with over 100,000 overdose deaths reported in 2021, largely driven by opioids. It is one of the worst public health disasters to have ever affected the US and Canada.
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May 25, 2023 | 
tolerance.ca | Caroline Copeland
By Caroline Copeland, Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Medicine, King's College London
The flesh-rotting “zombie drug” xylazine has been in the US. Now it’s in the UK. A toxicology report showed that a middle-aged man from Solihull, England, died from the effects of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. Drug overdoses in the US have been increasing over…Read complete article
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May 25, 2023 | 
inkl.com | Caroline Copeland
The substance – used by vets to tranquilise large animals – lowers the heart and breathing rate to dangerous levels and can cause large patches of rotting flesh when injected, leading to the name zombie drug. It is thought that Mr Warburton, who had been referred to addiction services, took heroin which was laced with fentanyl and xylazine. The factory worker was found in the living room of his home.
