Ne Colorado News

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (D-CO-08) on May 9, 2023 delivered her first floor speech as Representative for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. Caraveo highlighted the importance of her bipartisan bill, the Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act, which will help confront the drug crisis head on by compelling additional research into emerging illicit drugs including xylazine (commonly referred to as tranq).

The TRANQ Research Act is the first bill Caraveo introduced, and will be considered on the floor this week.

Rep. Caraveo co-led the effort alongside Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA-10), who she serves with on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) recently introduced the bill in the Senate.

View and download the full speech here

“I've seen firsthand how addictive, dangerous substances like opioids have wreaked havoc in Colorado – we’re now losing nearly 2,000 Coloradans a year to fentanyl and meth overdoses. And that threat could worsen with the emergence of xylazine,” said Caraveo in her first floor speech. “At a time of deep division in our country, I’m encouraged by the bipartisan support to address this next wave of the drug crisis.”

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently announced that xylazine is driving an emerging national crisis and could be more deadly than fentanyl alone.

Xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use, has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths nationwide in the evolving drug addiction and overdose crisis. Studies show people exposed to xylazine often knowingly or unknowingly used it in combination with other drugs, particularly illicit fentanyl. Illicit fentanyl in Colorado has been increasingly found to contain xylazine and at least 1,881 Coloradans were killed by drug overdoses in 2021 fueled by fentanyl and meth.

DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states, including Colorado. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.

Specifically, this bipartisan Caraveo/Collins bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to focus their research on existing and emerging illicit drugs containing xylazine and other emerging substances.

Researchers with NIST’s Forensic Science Program for the past decade have been developing new tools that can speed up the public health response to newly emerging synthetic drugs. They are also improving existing technologies, developing new ones, and collaborating closely with law enforcement organizations and forensic labs to help them successfully implement solutions. This legislation would have NIST direct these ongoing efforts specifically towards xylazine. 

See the full text of the bill here.

Original source can be found here.