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Assembly committee advances bill to classify xylazine as controlled substance amid safety debate
Summary
Sen. Ashby’s SB 6 would list xylazine as a Schedule III drug in California. Supporters say the move will curb a growing number of overdose deaths and dangerous street use when mixed with fentanyl; opponents warn criminalization could worsen public-health outcomes and hamper research.
Sen. Ashby pressed the Assembly Public Safety Committee to advance SB 6, a bill that would place xylazine — a large‑animal sedative sometimes mixed into fentanyl — on Schedule III in California.
Supporters, including veterinarians and families of overdose victims, told the committee that xylazine is increasingly present in the illicit drug supply, can cause severe wounds and incapacitation, and is not reversible with naloxone. Dr. Grant Miller, regulatory director at the California Veterinary Medical Association and a practicing equine veterinarian, said the drug “renders [a] horse down to…
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