by Isiah Holmes, Wisconsin Examiner
February 22, 2024
A bill to legalize testing strips for xylazine, a powerful tranquilizer that has been showing up in cities, towns and villages across the state, passed the state Assembly Wednesday on a voice vote. Like fentanyl testing strips, tests for xylazine are considered drug paraphernalia under current Wisconsin law. By working to reverse that, lawmakers hope to put another harm reduction tool into the hands of first responders, treatment providers and Wisconsin citizens.
During the floor session, Rep. Jill Billings (D- LaCrosse), shared an experience she had at a recent open house in her district. Billings discussed with an EMS doctor the rise of xylazine, “the street name is ‘tranq,’” she said. Communities nationwide have seen xylazine become increasingly prevalent in the black market drug supply. Often sold as heroin and mixed with drugs like fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of deaths nationally, xylazine represents a new wave in the overdose crisis.
Since xylazine is a non-opioid tranquilizer, overdoses cannot be reversed by medications like Narcan, which works specifically on opioids. A VICE News report from May 2022 quoted xylazine users who described developing sores and open wounds they felt were caused by the drug. In Milwaukee, addiction treatment providers have encountered patients who report blacking out for long periods of time, even for a full day. In 2022 there were more than 50 deaths in Milwaukee County from xylazine, a drug that was virtually unheard of locally prior to 2020. Often, people who ingest xylazine are unaware that it’s in another drug they’ve purchased.
Billing worked with Republican lawmakers to craft the xylazine testing strip legislation. Sen. Jesse James (R-Altoona) helped promote the bill in the Senate, recruiting other lawmakers to sign on. “This is an example of a bill that will save lives,” said Billings. “It will help people in Wisconsin, and it was wonderful to have people on both sides of the aisle come together to help create this legislation.”
Billings noted that xylazine-related deaths more than doubled between 2022 and 2023 in Milwaukee. LaCrosse experienced its first xylazine deaths in October, she said. Referring to testimony delivered during public hearings on legalizing xylazine testing supplies, Billings said that people using drugs, once they have testing strips, are more likely to use less, use with a friend, and tell others that a dangerous drug was detected in a supply. Once legalized, fentanyl testing strips can become available both to emergency personnel and to the general public as a harm reduction strategy.
Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Schofield) said on the Assembly floor that “there are times it hits close to home.” Snyder shared that he lost a nephew to xylazine in Cincinnati in November. “He suffered from an addiction problem, but he knew something was wrong,” said Snyder. “He texted his fiance saying, ‘I think I’ve done something wrong,’ and he’s gone.”
Narcan was ineffective in reviving Snyder’s nephew, who was just 25 years old. “We have to keep our guards up and stop this scourge,” Snyder said. Having passed the Senate and the Assembly, the legislation is expected to be signed into law once it makes it to Evers’ desk.
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