LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Bromazolam, also known as ‘Designer Xanax’, is a drug that has deadly consequences.
This week, Governor Andy Beshear announced that the sale and possession of Bromazolam is banned across the Commonwealth.
This move changes the schedule of the drug, which means law enforcement can arrest anyone caught selling it or possessing it.
The emergency action was taken after Attorney General Russell Coleman led a 21-state coalition asking the Drug Enforcement Administration to ban it federally.
“We lost approximately 47, I think 47 Kentuckians, last year related to this new Designer Xanax, and what’s so chilling is that this new Designer Xanax, this Bromazolam, looks just like the Xanax that many of your viewers may have in their medicine cabinet,” Coleman said.
CBS News said the drug was never approved for medical use in the U.S., which makes it unpredictable.
Coleman added that while he’s happy Kentucky has taken this step to ban it, it’s up to the DEA to do it as well to target the dealers who have it.
“We don’t have the tools in law enforcement effectively to go after them. We can’t bring the felony hammers to charge trafficking, we can use low-level felonies,” he said.
For recovery workers like Joshua Vanover, he said he’s happy to see these moves being made in the Commonwealth.
“I don’t want to glorify drugs or anything at all, but they’re not what they used to be,” Vanover said.
After overdosing twice from pills he thought were Xanax, Vanover said one family is too many when it comes to being impacted by drug abuse.
“It’s just very hard on your family, it’s hard on the individual, whether we see it or not, but it’s definitely hard on the people we love and care about the most. More effort that’s put into removing those things from the streets, the safer the community is going to be,” Vanover said.
Coleman said, unless it’s prescribed, you should not take Xanax given to you.
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