EXCLUSIVE: House Republican lawmakers are asking the Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to do more to get xylazine, sometimes called the “zombie drug,” off streets where drug dealers are abusing the substance by combining the animal tranquilizer with fentanyl for a deadly combination, exacerbating the fentanyl crisis.
Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and August Plfuger, R-Texas, wrote to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller Monday in a letter reviewed exclusively by Fox News Digital, asking the agencies to schedule xylazine, the animal tranquilizer drug, to properly recognize the drug as “the threat that it is.”
The lawmakers called government’s response so far to the damage the drug is causing is “wholly inadequate.” Banks says if the White House fails to address the problem, House Republicans will introduce legislation.
“For once, I hope the Biden administration moves quickly to fight the deadly drug crisis in this country. If they don’t, House Republicans will introduce legislation to schedule Xylazine,” Banks told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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(Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“The fentanyl crisis has already inflicted significant damage on our treatment clinics and programs, public health agencies, and our entire medical system,” the lawmakers wrote. “The addition of yet another highly toxic and addictive substance to the illicit drug supply will only further escalate this crisis. It is of the utmost importance that all relevant agencies mount an active and energetic response to this emerging threat.”
“As you may know, xylazine, also known by street names ‘tranq’ and ‘zombie drug,’ has emerged as an increasingly popular drug to combine with fentanyl to intensify drug effects and lower costs,” the lawmakers wrote.
“The effects of xylazine are devastating and include severe necrotic skin ulcerations that often lead to amputation, and severe withdrawal symptoms that leave users trapped in a vicious cycle of addiction,” they said.
According to the lawmakers, the drug is not detected by current toxicology screens, and, in cases of overdose, naloxone is not known to be effective.
Rep. Kat…
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