Language is included in new bill to license recovery coaches and combat opioid abuse
BOSTON – The House and Senate have approved a proposal by House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) to establish a special commission that will recommend ways to address the public health and safety concerns posed by the proliferation of xylazine as an additive to illicit drugs, including, but not limited to, fentanyl.
Language creating the special commission was included in legislation that would require the Department of Public Health (DPH) to license alcohol and drug counselors and recovery coaches, while also taking additional steps to help the state combat opioid abuse. House Bill 5143, An Act relative to treatments and coverage for substance use disorder and recovery coach licensure, was enacted in both branches on December 19 and is now on Governor Maura Healey’s desk for her review and signature.
Representative Jones noted that xylazine has a legitimate use as an animal tranquilizer. It was first approved for veterinary use in 1971, but over the last several years it has been increasingly showing up mixed in with illicit drugs. In addition to causing slower breathing and heart rates, xylazine exposure can also lead to skin abscesses and ulcers that can result in amputation.
“Xylazine represents a significant threat to the public, and we must do everything we can to stop it from spreading further and claiming more lives,” said Jones. “My hope is that the special commission will come up with multiple recommendations that will actively and effectively neutralize this threat and protect the public.”
Under Jones’ proposal, the special commission will look at ways Massachusetts can better regulate and oversee the production and distribution of xylazine to ensure that it is only used for its lawfully intended purpose as an animal tranquilizer administered by a licensed veterinarian. The commission will also consider whether xylazine should be classified as a controlled substance; the appropriate penalties for its illegal production and distribution; the availability of effective outreach and treatment programs for patients who have been exposed to xylazine; and ways to address any gaps in available programs and services.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, “Fentanyl is increasingly being mixed with the veterinary sedative xylazine (“tranq”), which continues to be detected in the state’s street drug supply and was present in 9 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths in 2023, up from 5 percent in 2022.”
The US Drug Enforcement Administration previously reported that xylazine was detected in about 800 drug deaths in the US in 2020, mostly in the Northeast, but the drug was present in more than 3,000 fatalities the following year. On April 12, 2023, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy declared the drug to be an “emerging threat” when mixed with fentanyl, noting that between 2020 and 2021, “xylazine-positive overdose deaths increased by 1,127% in the south, 750% in the west, more than 500% in the Midwest, and more than 100% in the northeast.”
There are currently no known antidotes for xylazine. Even naloxone, or Narcan, which has been highly effective in reversing the impacts of opioid overdoes, is ineffective against it because it is a non-opioid sedative.
House Bill 5143 requires the special commission to file a report with its recommendations by June 30, 2025.
