Shapiro admin temporarily lists  Xylazine as a controlled substance

By Cassie Miller – Capital-Star

HARRISBURG, PA – As of Saturday, June 3, xylazine, a sedative approved for veterinary use, will be temporarily listed a controlled substance in Pennsylvania, the Shapiro administration has announced.

State officials said the move to temporarily add xylazine to the list of schedule III drugs under Pennsylvania’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act, is necessary to help curtail illegal use of the drug, which has made its way into the commonwealth’s illicit drug supply.

“This action will protect veterinarians and other legitimate users and manufacturers of xylazine, which is an important medication for animal sedation, while also creating penalties for people who add illicit xylazine to the drug supply that is harming people in our communities,” Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen said. “Our focus remains on developing strategies that help connect people with substance use disorder to treatment and other resources.”

In a statement shared earlier in the week, the Department of Health called xylazine “a growing issue” and said that people often are exposed to xylazine, knowingly or unknowingly, in combination with other drugs, such as fentanyl.

In 2017, xylazine contributed to 90 overdose deaths, but in 2021, it contributed to 575 overdose deaths across 30 counties – an increase of over 600% in just 5 years, according to the department.

Xylazine has also become increasingly prevalent in Philadelphia, where it was reported that 90% of street opioid samples tested contained the sedative.

According to the FDA, xylazine is not safe for use in humans, and may result in skin ulcers and abscesses that drain pus, have decaying tissue and bacterial infections.

While xylazine is not an opioid, state health officials said that an opioid-reversal medication like naloxone should still be administered in instances of an overdose because xylazine is most often mixed with fentanyl or another opioid.