美国国家公共电台 NPR--Encore: An animal tranquilizer is making street drugs even more dangerous

Encore: An animal tranquilizer is making street drugs even more dangerous

Transcript¹

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A sedative² approved only for use in animals is showing up in illegal street drugs. WBUR's Martha Bebinger says Xylazine may be contributing to overdoses and deaths. And we should warn this story contains some graphic³ descriptions of medical conditions.

KYLE: Can I grab one of those waters?

MARTHA BEBINGER, BYLINE⁴: In Greenfield, Mass., near the Vermont border, a man named Kyle walks up to a van giving out safe supplies for drug use. Kyle, who uses cocaine⁵, says it seems like lately there's been something else in the bag.

KYLE: Because, you know, if we cook it up and we smoke it, we're falling asleep after.

BEBINGER: Kyle pauses when he sees a warning about xylazine. All of a sudden, his experience makes sense.

KYLE: We've all been just racking our brains like, what is going on? There's been a lot of drama.

BEBINGER: We're only using Kyle's first name because he buys illegal drugs. Xylazine slows breathing, blood pressure and heart rate. It's in about half of the drug samples tested recently by Tapestry⁶ Health, which runs this van.

AMY DAVIS: So we probably started seeing xylazine about a year or so ago, but it has ramped⁷ up considerably⁸ recently.

BEBINGER: Meaning in the last month or two?

DAVIS: Yes.

BEBINGER: Amy Davis with Tapestry says overdoses are also up in the last month or two. There's no proof xylazine is to blame, but there are reasons to think mixing it with other drugs, perhaps to extend a drug high, would compound the risk of an overdose and death. Xylazine is changing the way Davis and colleagues respond to an overdose. Davis still gives Narcan but doesn't expect them to wake up right away.

DAVIS: We don't want to be focused on consciousness. We want to be focused on breathing.

BEBINGER: Dr. Bill Soares is an emergency room physician in Western Mass. He says Narcan is still critical because xylazine is typically mixed with an opioid.

BILL SOARES: But definitely, I would encourage to have EMS because if the person does not wake up as expected, they're going to need more advanced care.

BEBINGER: Dr. Laura Kehoe is an addiction⁹ specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. She says a big concern is the trauma¹⁰ her patients experience during the deep sedation of xylazine.

LAURA KEHOE: We're seeing people who have been sexually assaulted. They'll, you know, wake up and find that their pants are down or their clothes are missing, and they are completely unaware¹¹ of what happened.

BEBINGER: Kehoe and others are also worried about a rise in severe wounds associated with xylazine.

KEHOE: I can show you the images of what we think xylazine is doing.

BEBINGER: Outside the harm reduction van in Greenfield, nurse Katy Robbins pulls up the picture of a patient's arm.

KATY ROBBINS: This person happened to be seen in April. And yes, we did sort of go, whoa. What is that?

BEBINGER: The mysterious wound looks like deep road rash with an exposed tendon and spreading infection. Robbins says her clients can get same-day appointments with a doctor.

ROBBINS: They can, and they won't 'cause there's so much stigma¹² and shame around wounds from injection drug use. Often people wait until they have a life-threatening infection.

BEBINGER: That may be one reason why amputations have increased for people who use drugs in Philadelphia. Xylazine is in more than 90% of samples tested there. One patient described xylazine withdrawal¹³ as the feeling of being trapped in a room that's on fire. Figuring out how to treat that level of anxiety is one of the challenges ahead as use of this relatively¹⁴ cheap, easy-to-find animal sedative spreads through the drug supply.

For NPR News, I'm Martha Bebinger in Greenfield, Mass.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 sedative   

adj.使安静的，使镇静的；n. 镇静剂，能使安静的东西

参考例句：

• After taking a sedative she was able to get to sleep.服用了镇静剂后，她能够入睡了。
• Amber bath oil has a sedative effect.琥珀沐浴油有镇静安神效用。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

6 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

7 ramped   

土堤斜坡( ramp的过去式和过去分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• With the arrival of George Lucas, the pace has ramped up. 随着乔治·卢卡斯的到来，速度大大加快。
• They also sold corporate bonds as the global financial crisis ramped up. 在全球金融危机加剧之际，他们还抛售了公司债券。

8 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

9 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

10 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

11 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

12 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

13 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。