Xanax

Desired Effects:

• Relaxation
• Reduced anxiety/tension
• Calmness
• Sleep aid

Side Effects:

• Confusion
• Memory loss
• Drowsiness
• Loss of coordination
• Light-headed

Long term risks:

• Dependence
• Severe withdrawal symptoms if suddenly stopped
• Agoraphobia
• Panic attacks
• Severe anxiety

Short term risks:

• Tolerance
• Accidents
• Overdose
• Fatal overdose with ‘real’ Xanax is possible but rare, however if combined with alcohol and/or other drugs such as heroin, pregabalin or other benzodiazepines.
• Risk of taking something that contains a much higher dose of a potent benzodiazepine or another drug altogether.

• Xanax is a brand name for a type of benzodiazepine called alprazolam. The legitimate pharmaceutical product comes in different shapes and sizes. Lower dose round and oval tablets are available in 0.25mg and 0.5mg doses. The (real) Xanax bar contains 2mg of alprazolam and is a white rectangular bar with Xanax written on one side. This product is not available on the NHS, so nearly all the tablets sold as Xanax are fake.
• Fake Xanax bars can be red ‘Red Devils’, green ‘Green Hulks’ and more recently black, blue and just about any other colour bars have been seen. These are supposedly in higher does than the white Xanax bar, however regardless of the colour they are all fake products.
• Alprazolam is approximately 20 times the potency of diazepam. So, a (real) white Xanax bar is 2mg alprazolam, which is equal to four blue 10mg diazepam tablets. However, it is very rare for Xanax bars to contain alprazolam. They contain a range of different benzodiazepines such as flualprazolam and bromazolam. The content is never consistent, and neither is the dosage. Xanax bars have also been found to contain drugs other than benzodiazepines, in some cases powerful opioids from the ‘nitazene’ family.
• Xanax or alprazolam powder is also sold as a street drug. Again, the contents are pick and mix, so could contain anything. Some have contained the potent synthetic opioids ‘nitazenes’.