Coalition Urges Congress to Pass Combating Xylazine Act

AG: West Virginia News

Published March 31st, 2026

Detected April 1st, 2026

Summary

West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general in urging Congress to pass the Combating Xylazine Act. The proposed legislation would classify xylazine under Schedule III of the federal Controlled Substances Act and authorize the DEA to track manufacturing of the drug. Xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer frequently combined with fentanyl, has contributed to increasing overdose deaths and complicates rescue efforts due to reduced naloxone efficacy.

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What changed

A bipartisan coalition of 41 state and territory attorneys general, including West Virginia, signed a letter urging Congressional leadership to pass the Combating Xylazine Act. The legislation would schedule xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance under the CSA, authorize DEA to monitor manufacturing, and require Congressional reporting on illegal use prevalence. Xylazine (tranq) is primarily a veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use but is increasingly found mixed with fentanyl, creating severe health complications and rendering traditional overdose reversal agents less effective.

This document represents advocacy for proposed legislation rather than an enacted rule. Compliance teams should monitor Congressional action on the Combating Xylazine Act, as its passage would establish federal scheduling for xylazine and grant DEA new regulatory authorities over manufacturing and reporting. No immediate compliance deadlines apply to this advocacy letter.

Source document (simplified)

West Virginia joins bipartisan letter urging Congress to pass Combating Xylazine Act

March 31, 2026

West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general today in a letter to Congressional leadership urging passage of the Combating Xylazine Act. The bipartisan, bicameral legislation would classify the illicit use of xylazine (also known as “tranq”) under Schedule III of the federal Controlled Substances Act. It also would authorize the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to track the manufacturing of the drug and would require reporting to Congress on the prevalence of illegal xylazine use.

Xylazine is primarily used as a veterinary tranquilizer for large animals and is not approved for human use. The drug is frequently added to fentanyl, and the combination of these two drugs has resulted in increasing deaths and severe health complications. Since xylazine is not an opioid, it creates challenges in rescuing those who have overdosed because it reduces the efficacy of traditional opioid reversal agents such as naloxone.

The combination of xylazine and fentanyl or other opioids is more dangerous than anyone can imagine. Naloxone is less effective with this combination. Like opioids, xylazine also slows breathing and heart rate. It’s incredibly important to get this drug reclassified so the DEA can use all resources to stop the proliferation of “tranq” and any drug like it,” Attorney General McCuskey said. “West Virginia already treats xylazine as a controlled substance. Local officials stress that it’s still a serious and growing problem—so much so that West Virginia has even been studied as an epicenter for the substance’s use in medical studies. We cannot let another illicit drug take hold in the Mountain State.”

The letter is led by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Connecticut, New York and Tennessee. West Virginia joined the letter along with the attorneys general of American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Read the letter here.