Philly Streets (Part 1/3) (18+ Footage)

y'all remember in Siberia with the Krokodil? This is the same thing, just now it's in the US. History repeats again.

Nelson Hernandez

San francisco

HJ Moon

Man! That dudes arm was gnarly. I reckon that's going to need amputation. It looked twice the size of a normal arm. Makes you wonder what has happened to him since.

Dane Beilken

https://www.patreon.com/posts/94968560?utm_campaign=postshare_fan

Kevin

I think that the “18+” component of this is fairly integral to getting the severity of the situation across. Comparing how this registered for me after watching the YouTube version to how it registered after seeing the more uncomfortable un-sensored parts here is really stark and significant.

dante hayes

I did medical sales for a while and went to a wound clinic in Cleveland that was mostly veterans and diabetics, I cannot even start to imagine how gnarly these sores are. From my understanding understanding an amputation is a death sentence for sizable amount of people bc of infection, mobility and mental health. It reminds me of visiting my sister in Vienna where their addicts had blue mouths, I wonder if it’s a way to further stigmatize addicts or to “solve the problem” since with the invention of narcan is reviving these people who rarely reintegrate back into society?

Ashleigh

JUST LIKE THE GVT PUT CRACK IN THE STREETS THEY PUT ALL THIS SHIT EVERYWHERE FUCKIN DUH. the only people making a "killing" off of this is the oligarchy

stebe MacQueen

Look up Hamilton Morris about the new scare drug “tranq” just like crokodil there’s more to the story than just use the drug once and get profound necrosis on your body

homebrew901

Just seeing Andrew laying on that ground interviewing Bud freaks me out. Can’t imagine. I would be haz mat suited up 😂

Dylan Dwyer

franklin field stand up

F1LTHY

kensington stand up conwell middle magnet school stand up

F1LTHY

I’m here. First and only Patreon is for Andrew.

Robert Niven

I love German in Venice but his comment section is a cesspool coming in to say “haha look at California.” I think Andrew should get in touch with him just to add more of an insight to the area’s decline

Andrew R

I was an addict for years and I am so glad that this is behind me. There are no real drugs anymore, I can't imagine being out in those streets and not only worrying about my next fix but also about my flesh rotting and my limbs falling off.

Chris Bay

I don’t think those brothers are the only ones who have tranq

Nic soroka

I miss the old kanye

Cesar Gomez

Love this video. It needs an edit around the medical content.

Adrian Millman

I'm saying, when you're ready, you won't need to.

RAS

Are you saying I no longer need to travel to Russia?

Nav Bhatia

This is such a shit take and I apologise on the behalf of my Danish brother. Thank you, Andrew, for casting light on these societal problems without judgement of these poor souls.

Alexander Smedegaard

Heavy topic. I appreciate your straightforward coverage and how you are humanizing victims of this epidemic. It's uncomfortable to acknowledge, so I think most of us try to ignore it whenever we come across it- thank you for shining a flood light onto the situation. This is much more impactful in terms of drug awareness and prevention than the DARE program I grew up with, lol.

hoopoebird

I grew up on rotten.com but I can't even continue watching after 6 minutes. I'm gonna puke 🤢. These poor souls

Em and Jo Talk

Haven't been scared for you until now, seeing you enter the home of the brothers. Stay safe Andrew that's some real shit

Danneroni!

So it's basically like Krokodil in Russia

RAS

It is beyond my comprehension how something so horrifying can be happening right now in Philly. I wish this is all staged and a phony mockumentary, I still cant believe it is real.

Oscar Ortiz García

For my master of public health (MPH) thesis, I worked with my state's health department to interview on-the-ground prevention orgs about how COVID & the uprisings of 2020 impacted their work. Harm reduction orgs do incredible, incredible work, but they are constantly sabotaged by stigmatizing policies, lack of funding, and corporate greed. It's heartbreaking. Tbh I needed to take a step back from harm reduction & violence prevention after my MPH work because my heart couldn't take it. It's so discouraging because these are FIXABLE problems (they are FIXABLE). But not just dealers, but actually our society, politicians, & corporations have decided that death & suffering are ok if it's "expendable" people (aka people with the chronic disease of addiction).

Keelia Silvis

Andrew, I’ve been watching your work since all gas no breaks. I’m a fellow journalist and I absolutely love and admire the effort and humanity you put into your coverage. I hope the best for you and your team

Maya Gayler

So crazy.

5EPHRO5_patron

Have you heard of German in Venice? I immigrated to the UK from Santa Monica in 2019. You two are both so talented and fearless documenting such difficult subjects. Bless you.

Gilena Simons

You do god’s work. Ty for such excellent reporting. 👍🏼

Gilena Simons

I’m worried for y’all man, but I know deep down you are doing what you think is right. I hope and pray for y’all’s safety as you go to these places and that nothing bad happens to y’all.

BDC Ky

Did that guy actually just pull a bug off of him @ 5.56????? And the fact that Andrew was touching the fuCKING GROUND holy shit

Makayla Hoke

Love the city documentary series keep doing this shit!!

Koolio 777

Mannn

abbyyy

bro is in hood hood

Jeffrey Davis

Holy fucking hell this is the most amazing journalism I’ve ever seen

Adam Runk

yep, and it can be helped with antibiotics which viral tends to not be.

Sneaky Blunders

It's actually the opposite in alot of places, you don't have to go out of your way to find this shit now. And if you do, it's because it's so cheap when you can find it. Addicts don't sit there comparing the levels of highs like a wine connoisseur, they just want that cheap fix unfortunately. The fix being anything they can get that takes them out of the place they don't want to be in.

Sneaky Blunders

You should get an award for your journalism.

Jonas Montvidas

Wow this one was beyond traumatizing holy shit but yeah wow

Bruko1

I do wonder why they go out of their way to get it compared to what they're already taking. What feeling does it give them that makes that worth it? From the way they were describing it it doesn't even sound that euphoric or all that great.

Heartbleed

Necrotizing fasciitis is caused by microbial infection, not viral. Just trying to prevent the spread of medical misinformation. Otherwise, great video!

French Homie Guam

Facts bro too many people cannot survive in this country and when you run out of money and options anyone can fall through the cracks

Matthias Bernsdorf

The 'acidic' drugs he's talking about are known as nitazenes or benzimidazole-opioids. They are entirely unknown to the mainstream media due to lack of testing methods, but certainly very common on the streets nowadays. I live in Connecticut and I've used Etonitazene and Protonitazene when I was using opioids. Etonitazene is 1000x more potent than morphine, or 10x as strong as fentanyl. Protonitazene is only twice as strong as fentanyl. It is common knowledge amongst users of the drug that it has an acidity score / PH of 2 or 3, depending on how it is synthesized. You can only inject the drug intramuscularly, and if you try subcutaneous or intravenous injection you will melt all the surrounding tissue because what you are injecting is about as acidic as lemon juice or stomach acid. The reasons you're seeing sores all over everyone's bodies is mainly because drug dealers will sell these drugs as heroin, pills, powders and lie to their customers about what it is. Thus, it is prepared and consumed imoriperly which results in harm to the user. The only way to fix such a problem would be to ensure that harm reduction reaches a level where people are certain of what they are ingesting. This is accomplished by anonymously distributing drug testing kits, or by offering anonymous drug testing centers. Sadly, dedicating resources to these efforts will (in my opinion) never be on the mind of the western world's leaders.

Dillard

What do you mean though? Andrew's reporting? Or the people on the streets? I think the point is that they don't have much choice or opportunity. I think they would just stop if it was that easy. Watch the harm reduction video and you will see that "Just say no." doesn't work.

Scott McManus

I am from Denmark, and i must say - i am totally speechless. I know you going full speed over there, but come on. I think you guys have reach the limits

magnus lambæk lund

Nice work man!

Adam Noffsinger

I know what the drug dealers dealing this shit are doing is wrong, but, it's still just a simple fact that at the end of the day capitalism and the motivation and drive to generate profit are the social and economic conditions which are responsible for these horrible states of being and acts.

Guy

It takes a lot of courage to be frank with drug addicts and drug dealers on the streets of Philadelphia (w/ 2/3). I wasn't expecting those two sides to be honestly treated. If necrotizing fasciitis is truly a consequence of tranq, I am overwhelmed that a drug so fatal is consumed and praised as "the best" by tranq consumers. And that tranq is supposedly so attractive that it draws consumers to its producers.

Nick Jensen

this is beyond brutal. just seems to me that legalising and managing some recreational drugs would improve the life of the majority of users

Andrew cossey

Thanks. I think the facts around the seven minute mark were pretty off base. I was kinda confused about how a virus could be transmitted via clean needles.

Jay Bookhouse

Oh my heart , this just rips iit. Yet we send billions to War and our most vulnerable are victimized by our callous disregard . I NEVER would have known this . Damn son , you are brave asf !

Julie Tulley

amazing. tough to watch. cheers!

Justin Scholtens

that’s cool, cheers for clarifying that

Justin Scholtens

True Andrew would make them care tho if you like his style of journalism wintertime interview could be interesting to everyone

Anthony Johnson

Philadelphia is 100 times worse than La and San Fran drug

Nick Lucarini

Just hoping. Would be a cool next episode

Nas

lmao that would be cool but i doubt andrew's audience would care about wintertime. he probably just chilled in iceland

chilliano

I'd love to see you go to Vancouver's downtown east side. When I'm around there I'm always wondering "How the fuck is this happening? What am I not seeing that's contributing to this?" This and the SF coverage has been eye opening and has made me feel more compassion for the people suffering in the streets.

Ryan Payne

This is one of your best yet

ste tuck

dafuk man? fire? yeah fucking brimstone

dali wakbar

agh i'm sorry but yr subscription came up marked "certified lame"

shampooflasks

looking into it

shampooflasks

marvin, make a suggestion(but think its multiple potential outcomes thru)

shampooflasks

Holy shit that ending. Can’t wait for the rest

Colton Caulkins

The war on drugs doesn’t work. People will just import from other countries if you shutdown every lab in the US.

Oakoka

Nah yo shit good tho yall make it seem like it’s dangerous

Big hump

That some big dog money that tranq some fire tho

Big hump

One of the few subscriptions I can feel good about. The content is amazing. The San-Francisco video taught me a lot.

Christopher Perez

Andrew––a genuine question about your approach and personal feelings of morality as a journalist. In a situation like this, when you are given access to location and information around the direct supply of a drug like tranq, do you ever consider intervening in some way? Not necessarily by working with authorities, but utilizing the information you've gained to hinder the impact and accessibility of a drug that is taking such a toll on a community? Again, I realize this would work directly against your practice as a journalist and hinder future access to stories, but I imagine there must be some sense of wanting to hinder something that is so destructive.

Marvin

Andrew a few things: xylazine skin wounds aren’t typical necrotizing fasciitis. Necrotizing faascitis requires emergency surgery. These are a different type of wound that does show inflammation and necrosis but many times no signs of infection, we aren’t exactly clear yet. This might be due to constricting of blood vessels and limiting oxygen delivery to the skin, or maybe something unique to the xylazine molecule. It’s not a virus either, when people do get INFECTED xylazine wounds, this is caused by bacteria like staph or strep. -healthcare worker

Brybry

Y'all remember watching stuff about krokdil I'm Russia? Arms rotting off but they're still tryna shoot up. That's where we're at now

Slick Willy

Thank you so much for covering these people's struggle with an unjust reality/uncaring others. Philly is close to my heart. I subscribed when I saw you were covering Kensington.

kafkabisque

And y'all thought San Francisco was bad! These are truly the end times. It cannot get more horrifying than people doing back alley amputations because of their tranq habit. Thank you for always going there and getting the story for us, Andrew. So glad I subscribed.

Daniel Lemonier

Well sort of i guess. Govment can't be fucking the money up poking the bear

Inocreative C

Instant sob fest for me

Inocreative C

Well you start by not looking to sweep it under the rug and asking why there is a problem

Inocreative C

Fuuuuck

Adam Edwards

This is wild. Great footage and interviews for this section. It really painted a horrific picture of what is going on there. Way worse than I could have imagined.

Future_experience

I have seen better conditions in slums of Mumbai than this. Holy shit!

sidank

Completely unrelated ayoo drew can you please find the rapper wintertime bro is the 🐐 and just dipped off the face of the planet voluntarily it would be a good side quest just sayin also ima ask every video until I hear something

Anthony Johnson

Crazy stuff. Seems like this is intentional. Like the cia pumping crack to minorities in the 70s80s. Money on both sides law/dealer/politicians is too good for them to actually do something. Just like the homeless in Cali. Actually, invite china’s president to Phili, they will have this shi7 taken care or overnight

Dan Rustle

Great video, love the part by part series. Makes me more excited to keep watching!

John Chrisman

Very interesting! Your doing big things for our future community’s! It’s terrible what’s goin on in these streets and you are a brave man for bringing true facts to light

Asher Simpson

Holy fuck this is insanely sad

Isaiah Oliver

That one dude kind of sounded like bubble

Evan

For everyone asking, “the stamp”, is the picture/logo on the brick. Bricks and work is labeled and tagged to track and represent a brand/quality. Same thing goes for yayo down here in southern cali, yayo bricks are stamped and we know if it’s bomb or it comes from. Andrew wassup man, keep it up, cruise to San Diego soon. I mean Daygo, south south San Diego.

Cheekz Clapperton

Part 2 Andrew come on mayneeeee

Cheekz Clapperton

fkn crazy, when part 2

Jacob Jemal

This is incredible. I have 24hr livestream cctv cams streaming Kensington on Youtube and watching a different presentation still gives me goosebumps.

@USALIVESTREAMTV

Man you filmed this in the smmer.. lol

@USALIVESTREAMTV

it's not a flesh eating virus, it's a bacteria

Michael John

Whole point is nobody gets implicated by this kind of journalism, otherwise similar people will not expose themselves and allow regular people like us to see what's actually going on

Joe Toomey

Somebody tell the geoguesser dude to release the address of the Tranq Brothers

Lucas Fletcher

Invest more in healthcare and less in the carceral system. The one guy made it clear that prison is his only chance to get clean - so we as a society have decided that we gotta wait for him to harm somebody else before we pay to rehabilitate him in prison - that's kinda crazy, no?

Chris D'Antonio

What did we do as a society to deserve you Andrew?

Allen Sunshine

They need rehab - and prison certainly can be used for rehabilitation (not just for drug use), though it's not often great at it, especially with limited social reintegration efforts at the end... it is pretty sad though that prison is the only affordable rehab for addicts like these. Heck, the one guy in this video said it himself: he wants to get clean but prison's the only way to do it. I doubt any other rehab facility would let him in the door let alone give him the months of treatment needed without him paying out the wazoo for it.

Chris D'Antonio

Fuckkkkkkk

Michael Eden

Because of things like the tuskegee experiment. Sure “the government” is a pejorative but these people operate along side it. You’re right that it’s not the entire government but people like the Sackler family that work closely with the government by way of lobbying and such.

Charles Robinson

Why do conspiracy theorists always go to the "government"? We see examples almost every day of corporate greed leading to stuff like this. Look into the Sackler family if you want an actual conspiracy that has been proven in court. No government deep state needed!

demlet

Purging addicts?? fucing sick

Ryan Roddy

Thank you C5

Ryan Roddy

Agreed. No way we're going to see the real bosses.

demlet

Holy fuck

Andrew J

Well, in America we don't have proper public health care, so, nothing...?

demlet

If everyone were to see it as a disease, then what would be done?

jacob turnblom

What is the solution? Besides straight up going martial law and purging addicits like they're a disease, how could we make this shit go away? All this harm reduction and medical treatment efforts are noble, but its not reducing the amount of the people getting addicted. Its still just always growing. Seems hopeless. But I don't want it to be.

jacob turnblom

great street coverage though

Golem II

there is no way they are really where the stuff is getting made there at the end. no way for a second i believe that and they are definitely not the dudes. only fools would do the interview in person in their actual operation sight and someone profiting off that shit is no fool. i'm sure Andrew doesn't even believe it.

Golem II

My jaw dropped hearing people are self-amputating. Holy shit...

Aristid M

How the fuck are you the best journalist there is?! Swear no one else on earth could get us this stuff.

Oakoka

Hello, I sent a direct message to Channel 5 regarding my subscription but haven't gotten a response can someone please look into this?

Nayiba

wow this was insane

kobe

This shit has to be put out by the government to kill off the drug addict population

Charles Robinson

where is part 2?

Barron Barr

sht let us get all episodes real quick player. this is very informative

Jose Gutierrez

Reminds me of that Krocodile shit in Russia vice talked about years ago. Sad shit

Parker Anderson

🔥🔥🔥🔥 did it again

Julien Bleser

I sometimes drive past all of these people and this shit breaks my heart. This city is doing a shit job at helping all these people out. Thanks for the amazing content.

Annie Forte

Ho ly shit Andrew, that is intense

Kris

Amazing stuff Andrew. This type of coverage is essential if we are going to make change

Ian McNabb

Fantastic work, as per usual. I'm thrilled that you've made your return as well as making an incredibly bold pivot into covering serious topics. For the life of me, I simply do not understand how many among the public can justify simultaneously demonising victims of addition whilst aggressively attacking harm-reduction, an evidence-based, effective approach to rehabilitation. Looking forward to the rest of your Philadelphia coverage. Keep it up!

Jacob Farley

Go to Chicago's West Side next. The flesh wounds in this video are similar to the users on the street in Chicago.

Matt Patruno

This trailer made me subscribe to the patreon. The team at channel 5 is killing it. When the speakerphone man starting spouting off about homosexuals it was funny to see Andrew laugh. Rarely does he break character haha

miles_mena3

This is what real journalism is supposed to look like, thank you for representing the voiceless.

Noah Wainwright

great journalism, I cant' wait for the other parts.

Jake Poggiali

Oh my god dude. What the hell. This is awful

Micah Rawalt

Junkies always lying

Ju Money

Probably location.

demlet

I drove through here last week. Super sad and scary

Danny

Everyone who has actually been in or around these circumstances know that the only way people in these circumstances stop using drugs is when they are arrested. Prison stints are the only thing that work. I’m not saying they should do hard time or long time and the prison programs should absolutely be more individualized and nuanced for specific circumstances and people. And obviously long prison sentences for dealers is pointless. I’m just saying that they need forced intervention to stop

Ben M

Jesus Andrew. You're doing amazing work

Berend van de Pol

I found it, thanks

Dowo2987

I hate living here sometimes lol.

Gooz

Hey, I live in Philly. Its really bad out here man. Thanks for covering this! Love your work.

Gooz

serious question or? Why would you make a show and drop every episode all at once, why make a documentary drop all at once etc, when it's monetized. just comes down to $ 75% of the time waiting to release something to build hype, the other 25% is just actual time between edits and shooting on scene.

Sneaky Blunders

On the bright side, at least they have the medication on hand to put themselves under...

demlet

you are the on front line man we salute you and your team

Adam Witzke

Except that the American prison system isn't about actually helping people. Unfortunately that's what happens when an entire society decides justice means some sort of "payback" rather than a means of making people healthy and functioning. Obviously there are people who are just psychopathic and will never be better. Such people should absolutely be locked away forever, for everyone else's safety. But that's not most people in prison.

demlet

Addiction is a disease. Until we can all recognize that, and create a society that helps people instead of blaming or criminalizing them, the problem will just get worse.

demlet

Damn thats scary. Looking forward to hearing from the Tranq bros. Would love to hear how you convince people like that to get on camera? What do they stand to gain? Because they have a lot to lose.

Chris Pyle

Philly makes San Francisco look chill

Christopher Wells

What does a stamp on the camera mean?

Stephen Stanton

Is that hopeful thinking or it's in the plans?

PopNTod

Cool that you talk to people who normal news agencies would never interview. The drug reminds me of Krokodil from Russia.

Andray Swenny

Thanks Peter! That was my point.

Chris N

this is fucking wild

Internet Famous

Same for me. I joined only to get more, and uncensored content which will never make it to YouTube

Nico

Holy shit this is fucking BAD man!

Alexander

Andrew while your at it check out Atlantic City, Pacific Ave. It’s a shitfest

John Swift

Well said Swampy. I agree that there's a limit to a human's willpower. Most of these people have been abandoned by society and have little hope for the future. It's basically a slow suicide at that point. Do these people honestly have decisional capacity for what they're doing? I would say no, and enforced rehab seems like the best option to give them a chance to get their mind and body right.

Dasloops

damn...its getting bad out here.

sleepcycl

The point is if you contract a bacterial infection, it is bacteria killing you. Bacteria and viruses are not the same

Peter

Jezus Christ dude this has to be the most horrible shit I've ever seen

stok

amazing o7

R Foss

Unreal, this made me bawl. So viscerally horrifying. I’m stunned

Gary Eddy

Killer reporting. Looking forward to your special on psilocybin, ayahuasca and iboga

Nas

This is terrible, recently watched Vice News' coverage of the Triads and the Mexican Cartels on their money laundering and Fentanyl drug trade. Scary times we live in and I think everybody's contemplating consumption on all levels as a civilization's morals begin to show their true nature and consequences.

Quinn Maloney

Incredible reporting. Be good and be safe.

PeanutNoir94

Speaks volumes on your honest and non-bias reporting that you get insider info like this.

cy

Jeebus

HashnChips

why not just drop all 3 parts at once??

Jacob Hayes

Fentanyl and xylamed what a recipe.

Christopher Wells

Yes his preaching took a left turn, thanks for having him clarify

DW

A++

Em Jay

Good Reporting! Be safe man!

elvis j osland

This was dark as fuck, but I also laughed my ass off when he asked “no gender?”

Soulrise

Honestly I commend your for going to the root cause. This is the only journalism I trust!!

Wesley Hamilton

Oh my fucking dog this is insane

Vasco Varelas

Philadelphia's Hamsterdam

poblano pepper union

bro hope u trash that mic

juan pablo arango quirama

Impressive journalism, I don't know if any other journalist that could come to an agreement with these people to allow them to film.

Nick Malgadey

Well, this was horrific.

Lee Knox

I see these people everyday. I didn't actually know why their limbs were swollen or why their skin looked like that. It's horrifying. I knew the issue was bad, but I didn't realize just how bad.

Dane York (OneSipReview)

Hey Andrew! I have a Master's Policy Brief due next week. I have to present my preliminary findings on Monday. Is there any way I Would be able to screen record a few small snippets from this, and the other harm reduction videos for my presentation?

Majdi Awad

The homeless situation in the US is a lot more extreme than I ever imagined it to be. I wonder if America will ever have a humane health care system in my life time.

Luca Clark

Sheesh. What a world. The industry exploiting and profiting off addicts is a new American hobby for the rich.

C Jay

I agree it’s hard to watch, but it’s important. These streets is cold bruh

Alex

The man is entitled to his opinion

Alex

The balls of those dealers to be interviewed by someone who loathes them... i wonder why they agreed to it

Doodoo head

This shit makes me so fucking mad. Please Andrew don't stop interviewing these people. FUCK the pharmaceutical industry and every other corporate lobbying interest that perpetuates hell on earth for so many fucking people so a couple at the top can sail on a bigger yacht than the other guy.

Joseph Hartsock

Deeply disturbing, stay safe out there guys

Moriah

The addict stuff is hard to watch, people are being harmed. Fuck, you aren't meant to enjoy it.

Scaffen

Go back to the first comments, someone explained it pretty well

Moriah

Is it even Necrotizing Fasciitis tho? I just looked it up and it seems that Necrotizing Fasciitis is something that spreads rapidly throughout the body (more rapid than "this wound has been the same for the last 5 months"), this seems to be more like "normal" necrosis?

Dowo2987

Are you sure it is Necrotising Fasciitis? From what I've found a key thing about Necrotising Fasciitis is how fast it spreads, it seems if this were Necrotising Fasctiitis none of these wounds could've been as old as a month (even less it seems?). It seems much more likely to be "normal“ necrosis. I also couldn't find much on "tranq necrotizing fasciitis" or "xylazine necrotizing fasciitis" whereas "tranq necrosis" turned up a lot of results such as this one: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dangers-of-xylazine-tranq

Dowo2987

Simply put: there is no single media outlet in the country doing better reporting than Channel 5/AC. Incredible work. Thank you

Alex Daugherty

There are hundreds of comedy channel on youtube. Go watch them for a distraction. What he's doing in this series actually matters, he raised 70k in less than 8 hours for crying out loud

AnEntireBoxOfSalt

This is wildly good content, again. I have enjoyed your stuff for several years but this and the San Francisco work is incredible. You all are my only paid Patreon or content subscription and I am happy to pay. Please keep it going. Thank you!

Jason Rickard

don’t get me wrong i love the funny stuff too but at the end of the day bro is a journalist.. i like how it’s always entertaining but he knows there’s a time and place to be silly

Fortysevenish

ir

ir

Good shit again Andrew . I used to live near here . I moved back home and showed my gf this and she couldn’t believe I lived near a place

Matt Guastaferro

holy shit this is terrifying. world war z shit

Louis Dzialo

Crazy

Treefeet

Talking about the abcess on his leg "What does it?" "We're not really sure." shooting random chemicals up from the street and don't know what's causing it? REALLY? Lmao

Mike Guay

my little cousins live in kensington

William Robert Hagstrom

This is also how addicts can develop MERSA and other intense infections from the same bacteria most people are exposed to. particularly gnarly/resistant strains grow well and thrive on unhoused addicts who don't have enough access to running water and clean habitats, and get passed on from one to another. I think it's important to help explain this part as well, because a lot of this issue could be mitigated or at least improved significantly with better access to clean sleeping, clothing, etc. Sidenote, please mention B12 next time you feature NO2 on the channel - in the effort of harm reduction. Not enough people know.

Aldeeenii

This is some real nightmare fuel. What a fucked up world we live in.

Glimpse of Coffee

"Fentanyl and Xylazine contain co-morbid chemical compounds that can create a flesh-eating bacterial infection" andrew this is amazing and important journalism, and I know you want to spread knowledge, understanding, and compassion. A small correction - two drug compounds cannot combine to create a bacteria. What they can do is cause crippling damage to the defense mechanisms in your body, which can cause you to develop necrotizing fasciitis from other bacteria that are everywhere (kind of like how strep is everywhere and can cause strep throat, but usually doesn't). "It can be caused by more than one type of bacteria including group A Streptococcus (group A strep), Klebsiella, Clostridium, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Aeromonas hydrophila among others. Group A strep is considered the most common cause of necrotizing fasciitis." (dhs.wisconsin.gov/invasive-bacteria/necrotizing-fasciitis.htm#:~:text=It%20can%20be%20caused%20by,common%20cause%20of%20necrotizing%20fasciitis.

Aldeeenii

Not an active addict, in recovery. But if you're an addict you're an addict. Same as being an alcoholic and don't drink...

Ron Smith

How do you walk around with those giant balls? Excellent video, can't wait for the next parts!

Corey

My favorite journalism team. This is an awful subject but I cannot wait for the next parts. With luck and a little bit of people caring, here's hoping we can reduce the more toxic drug combo availability.. somehow. Thank you as always for the content, Andrew + 5!

Miccalo

Crazy how Andrew can find these people like the brothers supplying the tranq.

Caine Munro

I’m from Philadelphia

Channel 5

Great work on starting the story and getting to the real sources. I’ll trust your journalism over the fake channel 5 on the boomer box every time as long as your independent

Gamboa

Holy fuck Andrew, watching you walk into that stash house after hearing all the fucked up stuff that can happen to your body after using tranq genuinely terrified me, especially after seeing those dudes covered in protection from head to toe. I know what you're doing is important work but I still hope you're staying safe out there man.

Froggy Timbers

in shock and awe dude

Christopher Thomas

Not wrong. The sores never heal because the addict doesn’t stop using. $45k to get your leg amputated in a hospital, people are amputating their own legs and dying from the infections. Scary but true

Pete

Shocking how much Andrew looks like a local with the blue Phillies jersey on.

Tom

I agree with you in principal, but I don’t think jail is the right choice, because I’ve seen how it’s effected people I’ve known and grown up with. In Portugal and the Netherlands drugs are decriminalized there, but camping and open air drug markets are illegal. They have enforced rehab which is not constitutional here, and funnel their addicts into government housing and job training opportunities. Their sleeping in public and shooting up all day just isn’t an option. A friend from Portland was just telling me about it who’s pissed the street he grew up on turned into something Kensington-esk. I think what we do here abandoning them to their own devices, and saying the only way for them to get clean is to be ready and want to is cruel, because that’s not conducive to helping healing. It’s that pull yourself up from your bootstraps mentality when in reality you can pull them things as hard as you please and you won’t lift your feet off the god damn floor.

Swampy

When he said 2 brothers idk why I was expecting to see the Hoff twins

Beckett Cullen

Holy shit. This will win awards. I can't believe I live in the same country as this.

Luke

Bro I didn’t know what caused that until I watched this video I thought it was from using dirty needles anyways crazy that they have to amputate their legs and shit that’s some next level insane shit we gotta get these dealers locked up they’re creating mass murder I don’t know how else to stop this problem but pray someone finds a cure

Camille

Wait are you in school for addiction counseling while in active addiction or did I miss read that?

Swampy

What a heartbreaking video

Zoe Howard

This reminds me of something that hit my town ten years ago when I was 16. M1. It was a habit forming bathtub mdma analogue somebody figured out how to make. Saw a clique I hung around with sometimes go in deep and they would get these gnarly boils like burns on their hands and arms, and it was super hard on nostrils so some people shot it. Not sure it’s still out there, I hope not, but I wish there was a crew like you guys around to cover it when it hit. I had a lot of questions and now it’s over it’s already irrelevant unless it gives us some weird cancer down the road. I remember someone saying there was gas in it. It was pretty variable in color. Definitely not meth.

Swampy

Canary in the coal mine.

Mr. Buttermaker

Wow Andrew! Love the documentation of the ins and outs of our country. Appreciate you brother!

bat kyak

hey, Andrew. Just for the sake of accuracy, I think if it is a bacterial infection the sentence “1 in 3 the people who contract this virus will die” is wrong.

Chris N

holy fucking shit

Cody

they've got better odds at recovery going through our current system than doing nothing. Dude literally said being arrested would be the only time he'd even consider getting clean

Jake J

this is fucking insane dude. stay safe brother.

moo cow

all these dealers need to get locked for life

Kévin Lowsteez

I may be considered a Channel 5 addict.

David Wojcicki

Your journalism is unmatched Andrew. Please keep it up & informing everyone.

Luke Farchione

American Krokodil

Kenji Tasaka

Grew up a block from where this video starts, had to walk past things like this going to school as a kid, had dealers trying to sell me pills at age 12, and it's only grown worse over the years. I'm happy Andrew is finally out here reporting on it. Hopefully a more safe-for-youtube version of this goes up so it can get more eyes on it.

Ed

Wow.. Tranq looks like addictive poison. No coming back from that shit. Looks like the plague in a leprosy colony. I wish there was a way to eradicate that shit off the face of the earth.

Just human

These folks are literally rotting on the street from this shit - terrible. Great video as always.

anonymoose

i cant believe im just subbing to this. i have so much more channel 5 than whats on youtube now

Joseph Forzanti

The whole tranq thing reminds me of back in like 2003-4 when we started hearing stories about krokodil in Russia. Scary as fuck.

Zac Mellington

we can tell ur 16 lil bro

zelium

Yes! Haha. This would be a 2 year investigation leading nowhere

Wyatt Miller

Of all things to watch while eating lunch, this was not appetizing. In all seriousness, keep pushing forward Andrew.

Austin

was gonna type the same thing...youre a brave soul, dude

Alex H

Replace DARE programs in schools with this

Leul

+1 to this, Anna Lembke as well

Leul

you deserve a pulitzer.

Zak Cole

man wtf

Dylan Wilbur

Holy shit. This is heartbreaking and wild. I am 4 years clean from heroin, but what we had in the northwest is a far cry from this. Holy hell, this shit just makes you want to cry. So much love to everyone struggling and to those putting in the work to help out they're fellow human.

Gabe Martinico

Amazing work. Would love to see you have a conversation with Gabor Maté on drugs and addiction.

Matt Sydal

This is fantastic, thank you for risking yourself to bring light to these terrible issues. Dark futures await us if we continue to ignore these problems. Not sure of the solution, but the drugs will only get better…

Ethan May

Great job man as always! I'm in school for addiction counseling and as an addict I see a ton of value in your candid reporting and your fearless approach!!

Ron Smith

THIS IS AMAZING!

Frank Smith

great content cant wait for the next one! and wondering when my book with ship

Ty B

Imprisoning people costs a lot of taxpayer money, and I assume where cops have to pick their battles the level-headed, alert users who would take advantage of those system are pretty low on their priorities.

Buz Lee

The balls on channel 5 for going to interview those dealers 😤

Lemaire’s right nut

Jesus Christ, Andrew, be safe, man. Going to the viper's den is good journalism, but please watch yourself.

Richard Springfield

It's true that prison should be their best option, but the US prison system is so flawed it will hurt them just as much when they get out. When you leave prison, unless you have someone who can help you get back on your feet, you will most likely fall back into whatever got you there in the first place.

Anthony Landi

Continuously incredible reporting, keep it up Andrew and team.

Buz Lee

Drop that part 2 wtf

Brandon Fasse

Suck my dick w ur mama mouf

Israel Meraz

Exactly and the cops can’t is crazy to me

Nyesha Jenkins

You could have just said "idgaf" and that would have been enough to tell us your a child.

Anthony Landi

Blown away as always, nice work Andrew. Excited for more parts

Hayden P

Thank you for what you do. So important. Please stay safe

jalen h

Our city is suffering, but hey! Lets focus our energy on banning "shiestys"....(kind of a ski mask) as if people arent gonna find another way to conceal their faces... its just constant performative actions and no real change, no change that will actually support the citizens of philadelphia. Philly schools are projecting a 407 MILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT, and 703 million in deficit by 2027. Unlike any other school board, the school board of philly cannot raise money on their own... but hey! Lets ban shiestys, that will 'definitely' stop crime

norina cobb

horrifying

Katie

Absolutely horrifying. Why would anyone choose tranq

J42769

The Taliban don't have a tranq problem.

Alejandro

Jesus Christ. @Andrew, how do you end up meeting people like the tranq brothers?

Wyatt Miller

Tears, and more Tears. Thank you so much andrew, this is incredible. My cousin passed due to an overdosed in 2019, often he was here... I work in the local schools in Kensington and I attend Temple University for graduate studies. What our children have witnessed through their whole lives is beyond words, they come into class, and talk about it like its nothing... Completely Desensitized and normalized. I truly believe at this point some of the only ways to help is early intervention with families who have experienced substance abuse, helping the child from a young age understand what addiction is, holding individuals accountable for the distribution and sales, increased outreach for individuals who are suffering with addiction and increasing access to education. Then again, we all have different opinions, at the end of the day, regardless of what you believe, it's apparent that the locals opinions aren't reflected in the politicians who are responsible for massive decisions in the city. Thank you for pointing out Temple Universities part in gentrification, Upon attending the University I learned alot... Cant wait to see Parts 2 and 3.

norina cobb

Badly. I’m in center city which is nicer and there’s still addicts everywhere. It’s permeating throughout the city and I don’t see it getting better

Jordan Bryan

great reporting Andrew

Matty P

bruh

Haani Al-Chalabi

wow this is next level - thanks for diving into this Andrew + crew

Vann Vixious

Damn man. It's a cold world out there

Rhythm Assisted Poetry

Just insane…

Demarcus

Thank you Andrew and Channel 5. Although it may feel hopeless, you are doing something. And that gives me hope. You are making a difference.

Autumn

Shut up bitch

Israel Meraz

Okay Hector

Bin Ury

City needs some milk

Bin Ury

Fantastic journalistic work, youll go down as some of the greats

Cody Lockhart

Am I wrong to think that it is morally right to take a hard line stance and arrest these people doing tranq openly? It doesn't seem like they have any real way to truly get clean in the streets and prison (or mandatory inpatient rehab) might be their only shot at an improved life. I don't blame them for being in this situation but I think passive harm reduction strategies can only do so much when someone's in the depths of addiction (and to be clear I think the dealers should obviously get the book thrown at them)

Jackson

Wow. Hard hitting stuff. Tranq is crazy. This is destroying our cities.

Sarah Ross

Nice work. also this is terrifying.

Daniel Carroll

Dude, ive seen something similar happen with heroin too, it looks horrible and eats away the skin. This is incredible journalism, be careful out there.

Edgardo Rios

There's better harm reduction clinicians in Philly I can think of, I can reach out to the narcotica guys and they can put you in touch most likely

alex niculescu

Great piece of reporting, just thought I'd add that Necrotizing Fasciitis is not a viral infection and is caused by bacterial infection.

Zack Meeks

Back alley amputations holy shit

matter 11

Damn this is sad all around

Roma 2.0

La right now but I used to volunteer at ppp in Philly (wrote my college senior thesis on it actually!)

alex niculescu

This is literally hell on earth. It would be difficult to dream up any human suffering that could be worse than what these people are living right now.

Jonathon Angell

Where you located? I wanna interview a medical professional for this

Channel 5

The ending can't do anything but piss a guy off. How anyone could be proud of being the root cause of the downfall of all these people is beyond me. Disgusting.

Tyler Lenz

This made me very sad. "...Because, I guess, fentanyl just wasn't enough to pay the bills." Horrifying, especially as someone who's felt and seen that darkness first-hand. Thank you, Andrew & team, for doing this. ❤

Will Corlett

Horrific stuff, but incredible, brutally real coverage

David Miller

You’re in my city!!!!

Jordan Bryan

holy. shit. i am a recovering heroin addict from MN and i got out the game before this shit hit our streets and im watching this feeling so damn grateful to be alive and god save us all🙏🏼

Jason Enrico

Real top notch reporting Andrew and crew — damn

Squidfish

I’m 16 and idgaf

Israel Meraz

🙏😤😤

Paul LaGravenis

Nec fasc is a condition wrought by a bacterial infection, not viral, is my understanding (I'm a physician). The theory behind why xylazine wounds are so bad is because it's a vasoconstrictor, so applying it locally will deprived the tissues of the vascular supply needed to provide wound healing factors as the tissue naturally repairs itself, thus necrosis of the tissue sets in and can lead to nec fasc. When you think of nec-fasc you think of the infection going deeper, to the fascia. Anymore questions just DM. I've been working in harm reduction for about 12 years also.

alex niculescu

Love to see you covering Philly.

Bryan

Good work guys !!

Simon

I’m from round this area was hoping you’d shine light on the issue in philly as I was watching the San Francisco documentary all I could think about is how philly the same way and it’s heartbreaking. Thank you for showing awareness to the city I love

Zach Morgan

ANOTHER BANGER SERIES??? This is truly all gas no brakes

Joshua Duarte