Congress passes Rep. Yadira Caraveo’s bill to tackle abuse of an animal tranquilizer often mixed with fentanyl

A bill spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo to combat the rising drug scourge of xylazine, a powerful animal tranquilizer that users mix with fentanyl and other substances, passed the House Monday and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

Xylazine, also known by its street names “tranq” and “zombie drug” — for the severe, rotting wounds it can cause in humans — spurred a warning from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last spring about its potential lethality, especially when mixed with opioids such as fentanyl. The drug is not approved for human use.

The bipartisan bill, dubbed the Testing, Rapid Analysis and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act, directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to focus its research on existing and emerging illicit drugs containing xylazine and other emerging substances. NIST researchers have been helping to improve and develop technologies to get ahead of synthetic drugs, and Caraveo’s bill directs the agency to apply those efforts to xylazine as well.

The bill was the freshman congresswoman’s first bill to pass through both chambers of Congress. Introduced in March, it was approved by the Senate in June and came back to the House with minor changes for Monday’s vote.