On March 28, United States Representatives Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), August Pfluger (TX-11), Gus Bilirakis (Fl.-12), Ken Buck (CO-04), and Chris Pappas (NH-01) with Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act, bipartisan bicameral legislation with to crack down and schedule the highly dangerous sedative causing fatal overdoses nationwide.
Jimmy Panetta
Panetta worked closely with colleagues in Congress and the Senate, agency partners, and outside stakeholders to author this bill that goes after the usage of xylazine, a drug that is an easily accessible veterinary tranquilizer that is being used as a low-cost cutting agent for fentanyl and other drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Agency recently reported 23% of fentanyl powder contained it in 2022.
Xylazine causes depressed breathing and heart rate, unconsciousness, necrosis, and even death, and naloxone does not reverse its effects because it is not an opioid.
Despite alarming reports about the rise of xylazine-adulterated fentanyl, which has been called “tranq” and the “zombie drug,” federal, state and local law enforcement do not have the tools necessary to effectively track it or crack down on traffickers using it to increase their profits.
The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act would address this gap in federal law by:
- Classifying its illicit use under Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act;
- Enabling the DEA to track its manufacturing to ensure it is not diverted to the illicit market;
- Requiring a report on prevalence, risks, and recommendations to best regulate illicit use of xylazine;
- Ensuring all salts and isomers of the drug are covered when restricting its illicit use;
- Declaring xylazine an emerging drug threat.
Xylazine is essential in veterinary medicine with large animals, and while this legislation will help law enforcement crack down on its illicit use, it will also protect access for veterinarians, farmers, cattlemen, and ranchers by protecting the veterinary medicine use of xylazine.
“The recent rise in the illicit use of the combination of xylazine and fentanyl threatens the health and safety of every community. This toxic brew of drugs makes fentanyl, which has taken thousands of lives in California and around the country each year, not just cheaper but deadlier and more addictive,” said Panetta. “Although xylazine has legitimate uses in agriculture, we need to prevent it from being misused on the streets.”