Governor of California Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said it was a “big mistake” for a lawmaker to kill a bill restricting access to a sedative gaining traction as a street drug.
The governor’s office indicated that the administration could get involved to ensure the measure’s success.
“I thought it was a huge mistake that a member of the Legislature killed the tranquilizer bill, the xylazine bill,” Newsom said. “That was a big mistake. So I’m very active in that aspect.”
Newsom did not name the lawmaker. Assembly Public Safety Committee Chairman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill last week that would reschedule xylazine, also known as ‘tranq,’ at the state level, making it harder for people to obtain it.
The governor made his comments during a press event on heat wave and wildfire preparedness in Sacramento County.
Xylazine is a tranquilizer for animals that some drug users have begun mixing with other substances, including fentanyl, according to the California Department of Public Health. Some people also unknowingly ingest xylazine that has been transformed into another medicine. Xylazine can increase the risk of overdoses and cause serious skin wounds and infections.
The Department of Public Health in 2023 called xylazine “a new and emerging problem in California” and said it was not common in the state’s drug supply, although experts were concerned about the possibility of it eventually becoming part of it.
The xylazine measurement likely referenced by Newsom is Senate Bill 1502from another Sacramento Democrat, Sen. Angélique Ashby. His bill would make xylazine a Schedule III drug under the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
However, McCarty and the committee asked Ashby to amend his bill to make xylazine a controlled substance only if the federal government first took similar steps.
She refused and the committee maintained its project. The Public Safety Committee hearing for Ashby’s bill took place on July 2, just before the policy committee deadline and the Legislature’s month-long recess.
The Sacramento Bee reached out to McCarty’s office for comment on SB 1502. He did not provide any.
Neither McCarty nor anyone on the committee explained why they wanted the changes. The staff analysis for SB 1502 recommended them because California “generally aligns” its drug schedule with that of the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.
Xylazine remains unscheduled at the federal level, although lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House are pushing legislation to make it a controlled substance.
The future of SB 1502 remains uncertain. The committee also demanded that Rep. Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, accept the same changes in a similar bill in April. But, Ashby said, Bains’ bill does other things as well. SB 1502 focuses almost exclusively on xylazine scheduling.
Newsom asked for a bill on xylazine in November. Before the press conference, Newsom spokeswoman Tara Gallegos said the legislation “is too important to delay.”
“We will work with the Legislature to ensure this measure moves forward,” she said in a statement.
Ashby said he is unsure what will happen to his bill in the future, but found the changes McCarty requested “disconcerting.”
“The people of California care about doing something about the drug crisis that lies ahead of us,” she said. “I feel like they’ve been waiting very fervently for us to do everything we can to address these things that are happening with fentanyl. And the tranquilizer is a big part of that.”
