CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire has joined with a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 state attorneys general urging congressional leaders to pass S. 545 / H.R. 1266, the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act, legislation aimed at addressing the growing threat of xylazine in the nation’s illicit drug supply.
“Xylazine is making an already deadly drug crisis even more dangerous,” said NH Attorney General John Formella. “This substance is increasingly being mixed with fentanyl and other illicit opioids, contributing to overdose deaths and complicating life-saving response efforts. Congress must act quickly to ensure law enforcement and public health officials have the tools they need to address this evolving threat.”
Xylazine, widely known by its street name “tranq,” is a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer used for large animals, including horses and deer, and is not approved for human use. Because it is not an opioid, it does not respond to overdose reversal agents such as naloxone, reducing the effectiveness of traditional overdose interventions and increasing its lethality when combined with opioids. Federal public health officials, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have identified xylazine as an increasing factor in overdose fatalities.
In a letter to House and Senate leadership, Attorney General Formella and the coalition call for swift action to classify illicit xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance and provide law enforcement with additional tools to combat its spread. The coalition emphasizes that federal action is critical to better protect communities and reduce opioid overdose deaths.
The bipartisan legislation would classify xylazine, often mixed with fentanyl and other opioids, as a federal controlled substance, enabling authorities to better track its manufacturing and distribution, prevent diversion into the illicit market, and improve data collection and reporting.
Formella and the coalition note that limited data and inconsistent testing make it difficult to fully understand and track the scope of xylazine’s impact. By improving monitoring and reporting, the legislation would better equip law enforcement to respond to this emerging threat.
The legislation has received strong bipartisan support in Congress, including recent advancement by the Senate Judiciary Committee. In their letter, the attorneys general urge Congress to pass the bill without delay to help address the evolving opioid epidemic and save lives.