HomeWorldDisturbing footage shows zombified addicts swaying on Philly streets

Disturbing footage shows zombified addicts swaying on Philly streets

July 18, 2023

A disturbing new video shows the “zombie drug” epidemic hitting Philadelphia hard, with users swaying lifelessly on the streets in a notorious open-air drug market.

The viral video shot from a corner of the Kensington neighborhood shows two people standing on the sidewalk, hunched over and eerily waving from side to side as they lean on each other with detritus scattered across the floor.

One of the individuals stands shirtless with a face mask dangling from his face, while another is barely able to hold onto a phone as their hands twitch uncontrollably.

A nearby third person could be seen having trouble sitting up on a doorstep before his head and torso begin to hunch forward as well.

Another man standing beside them could be seen frozen in place, appearing to be only able to stand by propping himself up against a wall.

The video, uploaded Thursday, ends with a fourth, disheveled person walking slowly into the frame smoking something while his left arm could be seen wrapped in a bloody gauze.

The Kensington neighborhood — made infamous by its open-air drug market — is no stranger to such disturbing sights following the rapid rise of the drug Xylazine, or “tranq,” which is an animal sedative used to enhance the effects of heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.


Amid Philadelphia's Xylazine epidemic, drug users could be seen hunched over and swaying around in the middle of the sidewalks.
Amid Philadelphia’s Xylazine epidemic, drug users could be seen hunched over and swaying around in the middle of the sidewalks.
Twitter/@stillgray

The drug is so potent the White House recently declared it an “emerging threat,” with the drug capable of causing flesh to rot, earning it the nickname, “zombie drug.”

The viral video in Kensington came on the same day GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy visited the area to highlight the drug crisis.

In a video of his tour of the neighborhood, Ramaswamy said the city has become inundated with needles littered across the street, urging action to fight open-drug use and homelessness in Philadelphia.


A man could be seen propping himself up against a wall while standing beside the group of hunched over people.
A man could be seen propping himself up against a wall while standing beside the group of hunched-over people.
Twitter/@stillgray

A smoking man walked slowly past the group. His arm was wrapped in a bloody gauze.
Twitter/@stillgray

“The people I met in Kensington, PA, couldn’t care less if you had an R or D next to your name. Fentanyl, violence and homelessness are the problem,” he tweeted.

Philly officials have been scrambling to deal with the epidemic for months, noting that “Xylazine has hit Philadelphia particularly hard, causing increased overdose deaths as well as severe wounds that can lead to sepsis and amputation.”

Along with Philadelphia, New York City is reeling from its own tranq epidemic, with health officials urging addicts earlier this month to not use the drug without supervision.


GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has called on the government to tackle the tranq epidemic.
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has called on the government to tackle the tranq epidemic.
Twitter/@VivekGRamaswamy

In April, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy designated fentanyl adulterated with Xylazine as an “emerging threat,” with the deadly cocktail involved in 4,859 overdose deaths nationally between January 2021 and June 2022, according to the CDC.

The report also cited a staggering 1,127% rise in xylazine-positive overdose deaths in the South and a 103% spike in the Northeast.

Last week, the Biden administration announced a two-year plan to cut the number of tranq overdoses by 15%.

The plan centers on gathering data on how prevalent the drug, formally known as xylazine, is, cutting off its supply routes coming from outside the US and developing treatments against its effects, all while ensuring veterinary clinics’ supply of the animal tranquilizer remains unaffected.

“Our goal is to get fentanyl combined with xylazine off our streets and out of our communities,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden told reporters. “The proportion of xylazine-involved deaths is continuously growing and is a great concern.”

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