California Bill Tackles Threat From Horse Tranquilizer Mixed With Fentanyl

As overdose deaths linked to the tranquilizer rise, the bill would add it to the list of controlled substances, requiring coroners to test for it.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reported that xylazine is following the same path as fentanyl, spreading to western states from the Northeast and South. Above, xylazine in Ontario, Canada. The Canadian Press

The emergence of xylazine, a drug commonly used to tranquilize horses, as a deadly additive to fentanyl has prompted California lawmakers to take action.

Assembly Bill 3029 would add xylazine to the list of controlled substances in the state, contingent upon action by Congress, making it a Schedule III drug and requiring coroners and medical examiners to test for it in suspected overdoses.