Tiktokkers Slammed For Filming Philadelphia Drug Users In ‘Tranq Tourism’

[Sugar Cookie]

TikTokkers and YouTubers are being slammed for visiting a poor Philadelphia community just to take videos of residents high on a highly powerful sedative called “tranq” in a movement known as “tranq tourism.”

Some social videos that document the drug use in the low-income neighborhood of Kensington show people lying on the ground or zoom in on users who have taken the analgesic, which can cause difficulty in standing upright and flesh-eating wounds.

The videos often mock the people experiencing these symptoms, calling them “zombies,” “junkies” or even “fiends,” an exploitative trend recently re-highlighted in The Guardian Sunday

In a few of the clips, drug users are questioned about their personal lives in ways that opponents argue are playing on their vulnerabilities after they took the drug.

Tranq is the nickname for xylazine, a horse tranquilizer that officials warn could be lurking in the cocaine supply or be laced with fentanyl, the super-deadly synthetic opioid.

The powerful sedative causes difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood pressure, slowed heart rate and wounds that can become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tranq is extremely inexpensive; a kilogram of the dangerous powder can be bought online from China for as little as $6, the Drug Enforcement Agency warned last year.

“These videos don’t pull at the heart strings; they make these people look like animals in a zoo instead of individuals that need help,” Dr. Geri-Lynn Utter, a clinical psychologist told the outlet.

“It’s become very exploitative here; people from all over Europe and the US are coming into the area and putting their phones or cameras in people’s faces. It’s detrimental because it isn’t helping.

“It’s continuing to dehumanize. These people are not in the right frame of mind to consent or participate in a social media clip.”

But the videos have persisted, with Sarah Laurel, founder of Savage Sisters, a nonprofit supporting those affected by substance abuse, reportedly estimating there are now “over 150 channels dedicated to Kensington and all the things that take place here.”

Their faces are rarely blurred out and #Kenzingtonzombies has millions of views.

In many videos, content creators often use terms like “help” or “raise awareness” to justify their videos, and experts say some believe their clips are truly the only way to show support or shine a light on the drug problem in Kensington.


But there’s never usually a way to donate funds or assist those they’re watching, and in some cases content creators have even set up online fundraisers for the addicts who never see the money, a content creator only referred to as “Jeff” told The Guardian.

Others even admit that they’re making these videos mostly for the money.

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TikTokkers slammed for filming Philadelphia drug users in ‘tranq tourism’

TikTokkers and YouTubers are being slammed for visiting a poor Philadelphia community just to take videos of residents high on a highly powerful sedative called “tranq” in a movement known as “tran…

nypost.com

 

[Metalfan]

Simply put,stay off the junk and you won't be exploited,I'm no Fn saint but never got anywhere near the level of these idiots! It was that long look in the mirror that made me focus on lifes priorities.

 

[420702]

Hidden problems are never fixed. You can thank senile Joe's open borders for this. Also thank him/her, whatever the douchbag identifies as (pedo) for destroying the economy and starting wars that no one want.