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House subcommittee advances bill to tighten penalties for xylazine trafficking
Summary
A Florida House Justice Budget Subcommittee on the xylazine bill (HB 309) approved a committee substitute that exempts veterinary use, raises trafficking thresholds from 4 grams to 28 grams, and creates new criminal offenses; the measure passed the subcommittee 14-0.
Representative Bankson said the PCS for HB 309 targets xylazine, commonly known as "tranq," a veterinary tranquilizer he said is increasingly mixed with fentanyl and other drugs and can nullify naloxone. "This evil drug is often mixed with other drugs, including fentanyl, to increase potency and addiction," Bankson said, and the bill "creates new criminal offenses relating to Xylazine."
Bankson told the committee the PCS exempts veterinary use, raises the base trafficking level from 4 grams to 28 grams, and removes a prior "70h" (FDA-related) concern raised by the Senate. "That was the concern on the Senate side... That's what we're dealing with is trafficking," he said. He described the bill as an FSA priority to give law-enforcement tools to fight the drug.
Representative Gottlieb asked how the PCS differs from the prior committee substitute; Bankson said the PCS removes the disputed FDA-related provision and raises the threshold for base usage to focus on trafficking rather than small-scale possession. Ally McNair of the Florida Sheriffs Association and representatives of the Florida Smart Justice Alliance and the Office of the Attorney General waived in support during the public-testimony period.
The clerk conducted roll call; 14 members voted yes, 0 nays, and the chair said the bill will be reported favorably. The committee's action forwards the measure for further consideration by the full appropriations or budget process.
The subcommittee completed its business and recessed.
