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Senate committee hears experts urging New Hampshire to schedule xylazine amid rising detections
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony urging SB 465 to classify xylazine as a Schedule 3 controlled substance, citing toxicology data and concerns that the drug—often combined with fentanyl—blunts naloxone’s effect and causes severe wounds; veterinarians and farm interests requested a carve‑out for legitimate animal use.
Senator Bill Gannon introduced SB 465, a bill to add xylazine — a veterinary tranquilizer increasingly found mixed with illicit opioids — to New Hampshire's state controlled substances schedules and to permit regulated veterinary use.
Kaylee McGlynn, who described her academic research and DEA internship experience, told the committee that state toxicology and federal indicators show xylazine increasingly contaminates the illicit opioid supply. "The DEA has stated that the emergence of Xylazine in The United States is following the same geographical path as fentanyl," she said, and cited New Hampshire figures showing xylazine detected in about 30 percent of fentanyl seized in the state.
Proponents framed the proposal as a public‑health and public‑safety measure. Witnesses described clinical problems: xylazine does not respond to naloxone in the same way as opioids, complicating overdose reversal, and has been associated with severe necrotic skin wounds that can lead to limb loss. Presenters pointed to chief medical examiner toxicology counts for 2024 and early 2025 as evidence of local impact and argued the state can act faster than the federal government to regulate the drug.
Veterinarians, the New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association and the Farm Bureau urged a narrow Schedule 3 classification that preserves access for legitimate animal care and reduces administrative burden for large‑animal practitioners. Dr. Jane Barlowoy and Dr. Katie Larson testified that veterinarians rely on xylazine for routine large‑animal sedation and supported an explicit carve‑out in the bill.
Committee members questioned whether federal action or differing federal scheduling status would affect enforcement and whether state scheduling would materially improve clinical care. Witnesses and the sponsor emphasized the bill is intended to create a legal framework for prosecution of illicit diversion while preserving veterinary access.
The hearing concluded with the committee receiving an amendment and indicating the item will remain under consideration. No final committee vote on the substantive scheduling was recorded at the hearing.
The next procedural step will be any amendment adoption and a committee recommendation vote; committee members signaled they will review the amendment circulated during the session.
