Bill poised to stop illicit use of dangerous animal tranquilizer to head to Gov. Shapiro’s desk

The “Zombie Drug” or “Tranq” are two nicknames for the powerful animal tranquilizer called Xylazine. While not made for human use, it’s often mixed with fentanyl, pressed into tiny pills and sold as a potentially deadly street drug. And until now, it was very difficult for law enforcement to target.

“Zombie drug,” said Sandra Fourgson. “I never heard of it.”

The use of Xylazine exploded in bigger cities like Philadelphia.

“The videos of the individuals who are on it, walking the streets in the Kensington area of Philadelphia are famous,” said State Representative Carl Metzgar.

“It sounds frightening,” Fourgson said.

“Philadelphia was sort of ground zero, and now Western Pennsylvania and in particular, Allegheny County, have been overrun with it,” Metzgar said. “The exact numbers are very difficult to obtain because no one really knows. You have people that are missing an appendage because of the drug and those are some of the best-case scenarios.”

State Representative Carl Metzgar sponsored a bill to classify Xylazine as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The PA House of Representatives and the Senate approved it. Metzgar says Governor Josh Shapiro plans to sign it. Once that happens, law enforcement would immediately be able to start charging people if they’re caught with it.

“I know criminalization is not everything, but it at least gives our law enforcement a tool,” Metzgar said.

Prevention Point Pittsburgh Executive Director Aaron Arnold says criminalizing Xylazine isn’t going to keep it out of the drug market but will instead encourage people to find another substance that we know even less about. He says criminalization has never been a helpful tool.

“I think that’s a dangerous path to go down,” Metzgar said. “Whenever you’re saying hey, we just need to allow people to kill themselves with this product. I don’t think that’s the answer. We need to make it so we have an awareness. I think criminalizing it also raises awareness that this is a dangerous drug.”

“I don’t think it’s necessarily tackling the issue, but I think it’s at least taking a step to do something to at least try to get it off the street,” said August Copeland.

“I wish they hurry up and do it before we start losing their young lives,” Fourgson said. “We lost enough of them already. We don’t need these drugs to take the rest of them out of here.”

The legislation includes an exemption for licit veterinary use.

“This law changes everything,” Metzgar said. “It allows our prosecutors to charge and our police to try to enforce what is a very dangerous drug when used incorrectly. If used correctly, it’s an animal tranquilizer that’s essential for our food supply. There’s no other tranquilizer that’s out there that works on bovines in particular. So, we need it, but we need it through a prescription process, and that’s what this bill does. It preserves that ability for our veterinarians to use that drug legally but bans that illicit possession.”

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