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☆ The Panda Factories
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-15 | by ( Mara Hvistendahl | Joy Dong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +30 min

They show that, from the beginning, zoos saw panda cubs as a pathway to visitors, prestige and merchandise sales. Panda keepers with cubs at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, in China, in 2022. A Chinese giant panda at the Panda Park in Al Khor, in Qatar, in 2022. Smithsonian Institution Archives A panda wakes up from anesthesia in March 1999 during a seminal study by American and Chinese researchers into panda breeding. Smithsonian Institution Archives Giant panda Mei Xiang taken out of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, Sichuan Province, in 2000, for shipment to the National Zoo in Washington.

Persons: Ariana Drehsler, Kati Loeffler, “, ’, Loeffler, Kimberly Terrell, ”, Terrell, Soraya, Xin Bao, zookeepers, Richard M, Nixon, Pat Nixon, Annalisa Meyer, Melissa Songer, Heather Bacon, Bacon, Don Kohlbauer, JoGayle Howard, Darting, Howard, Ping Ping, Thomas Hildebrandt, Dr, Hildebrandt, Lei Lei, Meyer, Lung Yuan Chih, Lung, James Ayala, . Hildebrandt, Ayala, interjected, Mei Xiang, Ken Cedeno, Tian Tian, Xiang, David Wildt, Mei, Mei Xiang vomited, Qi Ji, Agnes Bun, scrawled, Pierre Comizzoli, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Meng Lan, Su Weizhong Organizations: Zoo Washington, Factories, Chengdu Research Base, Archives San Diego Zoo, The New York Times Chengdu Research Base, China, National Zoo, New York Times, Smithsonian Institution, Times, Pandas, Agence France, Memphis Zoo, Tulane University, Smithsonian, San Diego Zoo, The New York, Smithsonian . Pandas, Zoo, Associated Press, University of Central, Bear Care Group, China Conservation and Research Center, San Diego Union Tribune, Feature, Future Publishing, Getty, U.S . Fish, Wildlife Service, ”, Leibniz Institute for Zoo, Wildlife Research, National Zoo Washington, Institution Archives Chengdu Research Base, Breed, The New York Times, Beijing Zoo, Tsinghua University, Animal Studies, Visitors, New York Times China Conservation and Research Center, Smithsonian National, Associated, Smithsonian’s, and Wildlife Service, National, Fujifilm, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Reuters, Smithsonian Channel, “, Copenhagen Zoo Locations: China, Chengdu, Sichuan, Archives San Diego Zoo California, Washington, Louisiana, Japan, San Diego, San Francisco, Indonesia, Qatar, Al Khor, University of Central Lancashire, England, U.S, San, Fuzhou, United States, Feature China, Sichuan Province, Beijing, Berlin ., Wolong, Taiwan, American, estrus, New York Times China, Europe, Washington ,, Washington , DC, Beijing Zoo Beijing

☆ Syphilis is at its highest levels since the 1950s. Here's how experts are trying to fix that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-08 | by ( Simar Bajaj | Simar Bajaj Is A Marshall Scholar | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Stigmatized Diseases | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Soon after, the mother’s syphilis test — given to all women before delivery — came back positive. In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 200,000 syphilis cases — the highest counts since 1950. Spreading the word about syphilisSome public health departments have launched eye-popping awareness campaigns, trying to raise the alarm among both the public and health care providers. Make syphilis testing convenientBeyond greater awareness, access to testing and treatment needs to be quick, easy and convenient, Chokshi said. But permanently bending the syphilis curve will require scaling these efforts nationally and promoting greater coordination between health care and public health.

Persons: Irene Stafford, Stafford, —, It’s, could’ve, they’re, ”, Kenneth Mayer, Mayer, Dave Chokshi, Donna Fox, Fox, ” Fox, “ We’re, “, Lucas, they’ve, we’re, ” Stafford, Chokshi, Jessica Leston, Jessica Leston “ We’re, ” Leston, Trojan Carvajal, Jai Winchell, Winchell, Arlene Seña, it’s, ” Seña, don’t, Seña, that’s, ” Chokshi Organizations: University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Fenway Institute, Common Health Coalition, Health, Lucas County Health Department, Alaska Natives, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, STI, Mobile Care Clinic, Shasta, University of North, Hospital, University of Chicago, U.S, Fenway Health Locations: Houston, U.S, Boston, New York, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, Texas, Alaska, Cass, Minnesota, California, Shasta County, Oregon, Shasta, University of North Carolina, Grady, Atlanta, America

☆ The global synthetic drugs crisis has hit West Africa, where people are digging up human bones to make a drug called 'kush'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Cemeteries are bolstering their security measures because gravediggers are stealing human bones to make powerful synthetic drugs, local journalists told Business Insider. AdvertisementA vendor sells daily necessities at a market in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Feb. 21, 2024. Formaldehyde also has euphoric properties, says the National Library of Medicine, which explains why kush users could be raiding Freetown's cemeteries. JOHN WESSELS | Getty ImagesJalloh noted that the use of synthetic drugs was not unique to Sierra Leone. ReutersIn 2015, BI's Erin Brodwin covered the rise of these synthetic drugs, marketed as "spice," "K2," "black mamba," or "crazy clown."

Persons: —, Sierra, Julius Maada, Michael Cole, Sally Hayden, JOHN WESSELS, Cole, Mabinty Magdalene Kamar, Abdul Jalloh, HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM, Thomas Dixon, Jalloh, Salifu Kamara, kush, BI's Erin Brodwin, Brodwin, tranq Organizations: Service, Business, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, Anglia Ruskin University, The Irish Times, National Library of Medicine, Politico, Sierra, Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, Police, Getty Images Local, Salone Times, BBC, Freetown Police Force, National Drug Agency, NPR, Guardian, Disease Control, Prevention, Reuters, Financial Times Locations: Freetown, African, Sierra Leone, West Africa, Mabinty, Waterloo , Sierra Leone, kush, New York City, New York, Kensington, North Philadelphia

☆ Cecilia Gentili death: 2 men charged with distributing drugs that caused death of transgender activist, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Michelle Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Two men in New York have been charged with distributing fentanyl-laced heroin that allegedly caused the death of transgender activist Cecilia Gentili in February, prosecutors announced Monday. “Cecilia Gentili, a prominent activist and leader of the New York transgender community was tragically poisoned in her Brooklyn home from fentanyl-laced heroin. Medical examiners determined she died from “acute intoxication caused by the combined effects of fentanyl, heroin, xylazine, and cocaine. Prosecutors accuse Venti of selling the laced heroin, allegedly supplied by Kuilan, to Gentili on February 5, citing text messages, cell site data, and other evidence. Venti’s attorney, Joseph Turco, referred to Gentili’s death as an “accident” in a statement and said, “We’re sorry for Cecilia’s death.”“Our hearts and prayers go to the activist’s family.

Persons: Cecilia Gentili, “ Cecilia Gentili, ”, Michael Kuilan, Antonio Venti, Kuilan, Gentili, Venti, Joseph Turco, “, ” Turco, Howard Greenberg, ” Greenberg, CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe Organizations: CNN, New, Eastern, of, Patrick’s, Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Prosecutors, US, Office Locations: New York, Brooklyn, of New York, St, Gentili, America, “

“It just says, ‘test strips for deadly drugs will be exempted from drug paraphernalia,’” Rohrbach said. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesUnder West Virginia law, drug paraphernalia could be hypodermic syringes, needles, capsules, and balloons, among other items. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described drug test strips as a low-cost method of helping prevent drug overdoses. The proportion of drug overdose deaths involving heroin has declined in recent years. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues were involved in 76% of all drug overdose deaths occurring in West Virginia in 2021, up from 58% in 2017.

Persons: Jim Justice, Justice hasn't, we’ve, Matthew Rohrbach, Rohrbach, ” Rohrbach Organizations: Republican Gov, Justice, Republican, West, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, CDC, White, National Drug Control Locations: CHARLESTON, W.Va, West Virginia, U.S, Carfentanil

(AP) — The South Dakota House passed a bill Wednesday that would make xylazine, an animal sedative that is being mixed with fentanyl and then used by some people, a controlled substance. The measure, which passed unanimously in the Republican-held House and now goes to the Senate, would establish penalties of up to two years in prison and fines of up to $4,000 for possession and use of xylazine. Xylazine in humans can cause health problems including difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood pressure, a slowed heart rate, wounds that can become infected and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year the Office of National Drug Control Policy designated the combination of fentanyl and xylazine as an “ emerging threat.”The South Dakota Health Department and Republican state Attorney General Marty Jackley brought the bill in South Dakota. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesPolice are encountering xylazine in the state, mainly in Sioux Falls, he said.

Persons: PIERRE, S.D, Marty Jackley, Jackley, they've, ” Jackley Organizations: South Dakota House, Republican, Centers for Disease Control, of National Drug Control, South Dakota Health Department Locations: South Dakota, Sioux Falls

☆ How Drug Addiction Tore a Family and Tribe Apart - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Judith Surber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

When I think about my sons, Roger and Cory, I picture them as I do all my children, as precious babies. I don’t see them as the rest of the world does, as two men in their 30s with drug addiction. I remember reading once that if parents had an addiction to alcohol or drugs, their children would have a higher risk for addiction, too. My teenage granddaughter recently left an addiction treatment facility in Utah. My granddaughter, shortly after she returned from an addiction treatment center.

Persons: Roger, Cory, OxyContin, I’ve, Megan, I’m, Kinsinta’s, “ Grandma, “, ” Organizations: Indian, Indian Health Service, Indian Child Welfare Locations: B.D, Northern California, Utah, Hoopa, Eureka , Calif

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Former Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo received two life sentences on Friday after he was found guilty in the grisly killing of his 27-year-old pregnant lover. A federal judge sentenced Verdejo following emotional speeches by the family of Keishla Rodríguez, who was killed in April 2021. Verdejo had been found guilty in July of kidnapping that leads to a death and of causing the death of an unborn child. He also testified that the day Verdejo killed Rodríguez, the ex-boxer punched her and injected her with a toxic substance before they tied her limbs to a cement block and threw her off a busy bridge and into a lagoon in broad daylight. Verdejo had participated in the 2012 Olympics and became a professional boxer that year.

Persons: Félix Verdejo, Verdejo, Rodríguez, Luis Antonio Cádiz, Verdejo’s, Cádiz Organizations: JUAN, Former Puerto Locations: Puerto Rico, Former Puerto Rican, U.S

By then, county officials were seeing the area’s fatal opioid overdose toll tick up. “We were grossly underprepared, like I think many places across the country were, for the opioid epidemic,” Stuby said. Like hundreds of U.S. communities, it's launched a drug court where people can avoid jail if they work on recovery. They can lead to an entry-level certificate for work in the field — a partial answer to a recovery workforce crunch. His research has shown that recovery support services — such as housing, community centers and peer coaching — can help.

Persons: ”, Precia Stuby, “, Stuby, Jesse Johnson, Johnson, Anonymous, ” Stuby, didn’t, —, ” Johnson, it's, Kerri Kostic, Kostic, God, Meelee Kim, “ It’s, John F, Kelly, ____, haven't, Misty Weaver, Weaver, ___ Christina McCarver, ‘ Let’s, who's, McCarver, William Mull, Cory Kinn, “ That’s, they’ve, ___, she’s, I’ve, ” ___ Johnson, Patrick Orsagos Organizations: —, Findlay, Technology, University of Findlay, Brandeis University, Harvard Medical School, Family Resource, AP, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group Locations: FINDLAY , Ohio, Findlay, Hancock, drugmakers, Hancock County, U.S, Toledo, Mull, COVID, Washington

Mexico and China are the primary sources for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. And last year a group of Republican attorneys general asked the president to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. The U.S. has taken a slew of actions to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into the country. And state lawmakers nationwide are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by pushing harsher penalties for possessing fentanyl. It would also impose reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts.

Persons: “, ”, Wally Adeyemo, Adeyemo, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, General Merrick Garland, Lindsay Whitehurst Organizations: WASHINGTON, United States, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S . Postal, Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Republican, Disease Control, Banking, Armed Services, Associated Locations: U.S, China, Canada, United, Mexico, Sinaloa, Mexican, Wilmington , Delaware

☆ White House unveils plan to eliminate threat of fentanyl laced with xylazine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration unveiled a plan Tuesday to eliminate the growing threat of fentanyl laced with xylazine, an illegal street drug cocktail that is fueling a wave of overdose deaths. It also aims to disrupt the illegal xylazine supply chain, among other efforts. Those agencies must develop and submit an implementation report to the White House in 60 days. The White House plan's long-term goal is a 15% reduction in xylazine-positive drug overdoses in at least three of four U.S. Census regions by 2025. Every one of these numbers is tragic," White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden said during a call with reporters.

Persons: Biden, Joe Biden's, Dr, Rahul Gupta, Xylazine, Neera Tanden Organizations: New York, Centers for Disease Control, and Drug Administration, White House, White, Office of National Drug Control, CDC, House

☆ Recovering From Drug Addiction Was Hard. Tranq Made It Worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Julie Wernau | Photographs Alyssa Schukar For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/tranq-xylazine-drug-addiction-recovery-acebae3c

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Recovering From Drug Addiction Was Hard. Tranq Made it Worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Julie Wernau | Photographs Alyssa Schukar For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ A former fentanyl user describes the first time she took the illicit drug laced with xylazine as 'the scariest experience of my life'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Kelly Burch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Opioids contributed to 80,411 overdose deaths in 2021, up from 68,630 deaths in 2020, data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows. Xylazine is a sedative that can lead to respiratory and cardiac issuesOpioids, like fentanyl, contributed to more than 80,000 overdose deaths in 2021. Mixing xylazine with fentanyl is particularly problematicMixing xylazine and fentanyl can amplify xylazine's sedative effect and the associated health risks. ReutersThe opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan, also known as naloxone, will not reverse the impact of xylazine, since the drug is not an opioid, according to the DEA. That's because opioids account for nearly 75% of all drug overdose deaths in the US.

☆ The Fight Over a Drug That Is Great for Horses but Horrific for Humans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jan Hoffman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, where the Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington is ground zero for tranq dope, announced that his administration was doing so. Since then, it has been used for procedures on sheep, deer, elk and even cats and dogs, as well as on horses and cattle. Earlier trials in humans had been shut down because the drug led to respiratory depression, so manufacturers never sought approval for human use. And unlike the protocols for opioids, those for reversing tranq dope withdrawal or managing rehabilitation have not been standardized. Schedule III includes buprenorphine and the anticonvulsant drug gabapentin.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges at a news conference in Washington, alongside Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram and other top federal prosecutors. The fentanyl trafficking, weapons and money laundering charges in three indictments involved a total of 28 defendants: 23 of whom are based in Mexico, four in China and one in Guatemala. A senior administration official on a call with reporters on Friday called the reward offers “unprecedented.”“These targets traffic fentanyl from around the world including from Mexico, (China) and Guatemala. These reward offers are part of a government wide attempt to put a halt to trafficking in illicit fentanyl and its precursor,” they added. And in late March, the US Food and Drug Administration approved an over-the-counter version of the opioid overdose antidote Narcan for the first time.

☆ Congress Moves to Add Fentanyl Additive ‘Tranq’ to Controlled Drugs List
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Jon Kamp | Julie Wernau | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Alyssa Schukar for The Wall Street JournalA street drug sample that a chemist later put through a mass spectrometer to identify its chemical makeup. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives plans to introduce legislation to designate a veterinary tranquilizer worsening the fentanyl crisis as a controlled substance, aiming to help law-enforcement authorities crack down on illegal use. Xylazine, known to some users as “tranq,” is approved only for use in animals such as horses and cattle. But dealers have been adding it to the fentanyl supply at an alarming pace, potentially to reduce their costs and lengthen the high for users.

☆ U.S. FDA to restrict unlawful import of veterinary tranquilizer Xylazine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Tuesday issued an import alert for drug ingredients and products related to Xylazine, used largely as a veterinary tranquilizer but has been a drug of abuse, to restrict its unlawful entry into the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said its move aims to prevent the drug from entering the U.S. market for illicit purposes, while maintaining availability for its legitimate uses in animals. Under the alert, the FDA will do an entry review of evidence offered by importers if incoming Xylazine is properly labeled, not adulterated, and for legitimate use. Xylazine is approved by the FDA only for veterinary use and German drugmaker Bayer's (BAYGn.DE) animal sedative drug Rompun is among the drugs which are based on Xylazine. "The FDA remains concerned about the increasing prevalence of Xylazine mixed with illicit drugs, and this action is one part of broader efforts the agency is undertaking to address this issue," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in the statement.

A veterinary tranquilizer that can cause serious wounds for regular users is spreading menace within the illicit drug supply. Xylazine, authorized only for animals, is one ingredient in an increasingly toxic brew of illicit drugs that killed a record of nearly 107,000 people in the U.S. in 2021. It is typically mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that itself has broadly infiltrated U.S. drug supply, including in supplies of cocaine and methamphetamine. Taken together, the volatile mixing means drug users often don’t know what’s in the substances they take.

A powerful animal tranquilizer is increasingly showing up in the illicit drug supply, putting unsuspecting users at risk for hard to treat overdoses and dangerous side effects, the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday. The drug, called xylazine, is primarily found in heroin and illicit fentanyl, the FDA said, and overdoses can look similar to an opioid overdose. But because xylazine isn't an opioid, these overdoses can't be reversed using the antidote naloxone, or Narcan. It's also linked with gaping skin wounds not seen with other injectable drug use, the FDA said. Because the drug isn't included in routine toxicology screenings, the FDA added, it may be underdetected in overdoses.

Two dangerous and highly potent illicit drugs are increasingly infiltrating the supply of street drugs, putting people at risk for deadly overdoses. "Nitazenes are an emerging group of highly potent psychoactive substances" that are often left out of drug screening tests, the report's authors wrote. The highly potent opioids has been found in street drugs across the Midwest and Northeast since 2019, but has since spread to other states. She and her colleagues have recently begun to detect nitazenes in illicit drug samples gathered across the state. The drug has also been linked to reports of skin abscesses, not unlike cases seen in other injectable drug users.

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