President Joe Biden this week signed a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo to target an escalating threat posed by a powerful veterinary drug known as “tranq,” which authorities say has compounded the national addiction and overdose crisis.

Passed with near-unanimous support, the bipartisan Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality Research Act – dubbed the TRANQ Research Act – was the first piece of legislation introduced by the first-term Thornton Democrat, and the first bill from a freshman House member to become law this year.

The bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to research the non-opioid animal tranquilizer xylazine – which isn’t approved for human use – and related synthetic drugs, including developing tests for rapid detection and working with frontline responders.

“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, a pediatrician, on the House floor earlier this year. “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.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia sponsored the bill in the House with Caraveo, who was elected last year in the newly created 8th Congressional District, which covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north Denver. Its Senate sponsors were Republican Ted Cruz of Texas and Democrat Peter Welch of Vermont.

The bill passed the House unanimously in May and passed the Senate a month later, with minor changes. The House approved the amended version in early December, sending it to the president’s desk.

Following its final passage, Cruz said the “common sense, bipartisan legislation will help law enforcement better detect a deadly drug that is destroying lives in my home state of Texas,” adding that he expects the law will “help give the frontlines of the Tranq drug crisis access to reliable data and research.”

In April, the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy named xylazine an “emerging threat” when the drug is mixed with the opioid fentanyl, marking the office’s first such designation. Also known as the “zombie drug,” xylazine can cause gruesome skin injuries and has been increasingly showing up in combination mixed with other illicit street drugs, including fentanyl, authorities said.

The Drug Enforcement Agency has found xylazine mixed with fentanyl in 48 states, including Colorado, Caraveo’s office said. According to the DEA’s laboratory system, last year approximately 23% of the fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seize by the agency contained xylazine.