New Florida Bill Would Brand 'Zombie Drug' Dealers With First-Degree Felony

Possessing, selling, or trafficking Xylazine, the dangerously popular "zombie drug" that can gash users with festering wounds, may become a first-degree felony in Florida.

Violators can be imprisoned for three to 25 years with fines up to $500,000 under Republican Rep. Rachel Plakon's new bill, HB 57. Her legislation, filed Wednesday ahead of the 2025 Session, aims to crack down on the growing xylazine epidemic.

What is xylazine?

Xylazine, also known as "tranq," is a non-opioid sedative used as an animal tranquilizer.

In short—it's not for humans.

But that hasn't stopped some drug users, who experience slowed breathing and heart rate minutes after injecting, snorting, or smoking the sedative. Repeated use can lead to skin wounds, including open sores and abscesses, and eventually necrosis, where the skin begins to rot—giving way to its other nickname: the "zombie drug."

Some black market manufacturers cut supplies of other commonly used drugs—specifically the deadly opioid fentanyl or, less commonly, cocaine or heroin—with tranq. This causes some users to ingest the animal sedative unknowingly and contributes to the spiking overdoses seen nationwide.

The DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states. In 2022, approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine. According to the CDC, the monthly percentage of overdose deaths from fentanyl cut with xylazine increased by 276% between 2019 and 2022.

Between 2020 and 2021, forensic lab identification of xylazine rose in all corners of the U.S.—most notably in the South (193%) and the West (112%). Xylazine-positive deaths similarly spiked 1,127% in the south and 750% in the west.

What will Rep. Plakon's bill do?

Xylazine is already a Schedule 1 substance in Florida, meaning it is illegal to have, sell, or prescribe. HB 57, by Lake Mary Republican Rep. Plakon, enumerates the penalties for violating that statute.

Under her bill, selling, manufacturing, or delivering xylazine is automatically punishable by a first-degree felony and at least three years in prison. Trafficking or possessing four to 14 grams of xylazine is punishable by a first-degree felony, a mandatory minimum of seven years in prison, and a fine of $50,000.

Trafficking or possessing 14 to 28 grams of tranq results in 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, and trafficking or possessing 28 grams or more of xylazine results in a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and a fine of $500,000.

So far, she does not have a companion bill in the Senate, though the session doesn't start until Mar. 4.

What is Florida doing about the tranq crisis? How about the nation?

Florida is the only state in the nation to have scheduled xylazine as a Schedule 1 substance, placing it alongside drugs like heroin and ecstasy. The Legislature last year tried—and failed—to pass a bill exempting some xylazine products from the controlled substances list to allow veterinarians to administer them to pets.

Though eight other states have classified xylazine as some sort of controlled or dangerous substance, the federal government has yet to schedule it—despite Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's efforts.

"Our nation is experiencing a drug overdose crisis fueled by massive amounts of fentanyl flooding across the U.S. Southwest Border," Moody said in 2023, urging the DEA to add the "zombie drug" to the federal list of controlled substances after pointing out that 236 Floridians died with xylazine in their systems in 2021. "Now, xylazine is being found mixed with this illicit Mexican fentanyl, making the already lethal substance even more deadly.

"We’ve taken action in Florida to ban xylazine, and now I’m asking the DEA to act on the federal level to curb abuse and save lives nationwide.”

Months later, the White House issued its first-ever "emerging threat" designation for tranq mixed with fentanyl, pointing to the sedative rapidly claiming more lives year over year. They warned that while the anti-opioid agent Naloxone, also known as Narcan, can reverse the effects of deadly drugs like fentanyl, it cannot do the same for xylazine overdoses.

Florida has taken steps to increase the availability of Narcan to combat the opioid epidemic. The Legislature has passed laws allowing it to be an over-the-counter drug and requiring its presence in every college dormitory hall.

But that won't work against xylazine.

"While national overdose death numbers have flattened or decreased for seven straight months, xylazine is complicating efforts to reverse opioid overdoses with Naloxone and threatens progress being made to save lives and address the opioid crisis," said the White House last year.