Special Commission on Xylazine approves final report; staff to finalize appendices and submit to clerks
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Summary
The Special Commission on Xylazine voted to approve its final report and instructed staff to incorporate agreed red-line edits and complete appendices; absent Senator John Vilas submitted a letter expressing support.
The Special Commission on Xylazine voted to approve its final report at a public meeting on March 30, sending the document to the House and Senate clerks for filing and public posting.
Chair Mindy Dahm, House chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, opened the meeting and explained that commissioners who could not attend would have 24 hours to submit a letter with their vote that will be added to Appendix A. Dahm read a letter from Senator John Vilas, who is on active military duty, saying he would "be in strong support of this report," and noted he would be unable to vote in person.
The vote followed a staff‑led review of red-line edits and outstanding items in the appendices. Commissioners voted to allow commission staff to incorporate language changes agreed at the meeting and to finalize appendices A–D after the meeting. Multiple commissioners verbally said "approve" during the roll call; the transcript records approvals from Millie Bhatia, Representative Kate Donahue, Ernie Gates, Matthew Hogan, Senator John Keenan, Dr. Simeon Kimmel, Dr. David McGarry, Deputy Director Sarah Ruiz and Chair Mindy Dahm.
Commission staff led the meeting through the changes and flagged a small number of substantive edits that needed clarity before finalization, including wording about xylazine's pharmacology and the appropriate use of the term "hotspot" in discussing concentration of adulterants. Staff told commissioners that Appendix D will be prepared as an easy‑to‑follow table summarizing the commission's final recommendations and that Appendix C (additional resources) will include links to trainings and education materials.
The commission's action was procedural: staff will incorporate agreed edits and post a finalized report to the commission webpage on the Massachusetts Legislature site. Chair Dahm said commissioners will be notified when the report has been submitted to legislative clerks and when the archived meeting video and report are posted.
The meeting adjourned at 11:11 a.m. with the chair thanking commissioners and staff for their work and noting the report will be available online once clerks receive it.
