House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Address Overdose Crisis, Including Pappas Provision to Crack Down on Deadly Xylazine

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a member of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, helped pass the bipartisan Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization (SUPPORT) Act in the House. This bill includes Pappas’s provision to classify xylazine as a schedule III controlled substance from his bipartisan Combating Illicit Xylazine Act.

The SUPPORT Act, which was led by Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02), will help communities better address the overdose crisis by expanding access to substance use disorder treatment, support first responders and mental health workers, and more.

The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act will crack down on the manufacture and sale of xylazine, which can be legally used as an animal tranquilizer, by listing it as a controlled substance and better coordinating federal agencies to ensure law enforcement has the resources needed to crack down on illegal drug traffickers. Pappas introduced this bill earlier this year. 

“The addiction crisis is deeply personal for Granite Staters, and we must continue to build and invest in a multi-pronged approach,” said Congressman Chris Pappas. “Today the House passed critical bipartisan legislation that will address substance use disorder in a number of important ways, from expanding prevention and treatment programs to supporting our first responders and law enforcement, and includes my provision to crack down on the illegal use of the highly dangerous sedative, xylazine. I urge the Senate to pass this bill to ensure our local communities have the resources they need to combat this epidemic and save lives.”