

But they did encounter huge quantities of pills: 183 seizures altogether, amounting to 860,989 counterfeit pills. Between January 2015 and March 2017, they only caught another 3kg of powder. It would be the first and last time they intercepted such a quantity, however. It suggested that an enormous commercial operation was underway: the largest in UK dark net history. The three seizures amounted to more than 50kg – enough to press more than 25 million counterfeit Xanax pills containing 2mg alprazolam each. In January 2017, law enforcement successfully intercepted a huge shipment of alprazolam powder. This enabled them to produce huge quantities of the drug at extremely low cost.īorder Force data obtained by BBC Three provides a glimpse of the scale of the operation – and the struggle of the authorities to contain it – for the first time. So in late 2015 some innovative dealers decided to take a new approach: they began pressing their own pills in the UK using powder imported from China. Xanax's scarcity in the UK means that for illicit dealers, getting regular supplies of the drug is difficult.
CLONAZEPAM .5 STREET VALUE PROFESSIONAL
“Every medical professional I’ve seen about my seizures hasn’t known what Xanax is.”

That was when he decided to tell his mum, and that’s how he ended up in front of his GP in Kent, trying to explain how he’d managed to get hooked on an anti-anxiety medication that was prescribed just 14 times in 2016 according to NHS England. But he was still unprepared for his first seizure, a week and a half later. Withdrawal from benzodiazepines – the family of drugs to which Xanax belongs – can be life-threatening, so he knew it was going to be difficult. He could feel his personality changing.īrad decided to quit cold turkey. He was apathetic – and occasionally violent. When he and his friends started experimenting with an illegal, counterfeit version of Pfizer-brand Xanax at the beginning of 2016, it was just a fun thing to do at parties – or, occasionally, a way to come down after a heavy weekend.Įight months on, he had a four-pills-a-day habit and felt he was “losing it”. Seek help from your nearest emergency department, call Triple Zero (000) for emergency assistance, or phone the NSW Poisons Information Centre (13 11 26).The 17-year-old sat in his GP’s office in August 2016, explaining to him everything he knew about the drug. Seek help immediately if you have consumed this tablet or experience adverse effects from an alprazolam tablet you purchased online or from the street. These tablets contain etizolam only but are marked as branded alprazolam medications from overseas.Īdverse effects may include unexpectedly pronounced effects like prolonged sleepiness, agitation or loss of consciousness. The tablets have variable appearance and can look like other medicines. Taking these tablets can result in unexpected and severe health effects, especially if multiple tablets are taken together or over a short period.įour people have been recently confirmed to have experienced serious harm in association with etizolam use in New South Wales (NSW). The tablets have been illegally sold online or on the street as "Xanax" or "Mylan" (alprazolam), but they contain etizolam.Įtizolam has similar effects to other benzodiazepines but is not used medically in Australia. These tablets are not pharmaceutical grade and can have widely variable doses.
