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A bipartisan coalition of 39 attorneys general have called on Congress to pass a bill to fight illicit xylazine.
The May 18 letter to congressional leadership and the chairmen and ranking members of a couple House and Senate committees want Congress to pass the bipartisan Combating Illicit Xylazine Act. It was introduced in March by Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and has 31 Democrat and 29 Republican cosponsors. It would “prohibit certain uses of xylazine, and for other purposes.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, xylazine is “a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use, [and] has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths nationwide in the evolving drug addiction and overdose crisis.” There have been cases of xylazine mixed with other deadly drugs, including fentanyl.
“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” said Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in a March alert.
“DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states,” she continued. “The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022, approximately 23 percent of fentanyl powder and 7 percent of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”
In their letter, the 39 attorneys general wrote that “xylazine is a growing danger to communities across our nation. With a record number of overdose deaths, we must confront this new threat.”
Xylazine is also known as “tranq” or “Philly dope” as it can be a tranquilizer and, per the latter nickname, is popular in Philadelphia. Naloxone can be administered in response to a xylazine overdose even though, unlike fentanyl, it is not an opioid. Xylazine has been spotted in 48 out of 50 states, according to the DEA. There was a 117 percent increase in xylazine-related deaths in 2021 compared to the previous year.
“Many of our States have scheduled xylazine, though some minor disagreement exists over which Schedule to place xylazine. Nevertheless, we agree that Congress must act quickly to classify the illicit use of xylazine under Schedule III of the CSA,” wrote the attorneys general. “The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act provides critical tools that will enable the DEA to track its manufacturing, prevent diversion, and mandate analysis and reporting on the illicit use of xylazine.”
The attorneys general who signed the letter include New York’s Letitia James, Florida’s Ashley Moody, Tennessee’s Jonathan Skrmetti, Arizona’s Kris Mayes, California’s Rob Bonta, Texas’ Ken Paxton, Virginia’s Jason Miyares, Connecticut’s William Tong, and South Carolina’s Alan Wilson.
