More and more young people are buying copies of this anxiolytic on the internet. In Scotland, the number of deaths due to this type of medicine has quadrupled in one year.
Xanax would have become cool: more and more young Britons are using versions of it copied, bought on the internet. Health authorities are concerned about the increasing number of hospitalizations observed in recent months.
The United Kingdom, second largest consumer
In Northern Ireland, a pathologist, Joe McCrisken declares every week a death linked to alprazolam, the active molecule of Xanax. In one BBC article, he explains that most of these deaths are due to false versions of the drug, often purchased on the internet. According to the Guardian, a fifth of the Xanax sold on the “darknet”, the internet’s black market, is destined for the United Kingdom, making it the largest consumer just behind the United States.
It is not possible to obtain this medicine in the British public health system, only private doctors can prescribe it. On the internet, the pills are sold for one euro, without the need for a prescription. This allows everyone to have access to these tablets, regardless of age: last year, the BBC found that 11-year-olds were being treated for Xanax addictions.
Paul, 20, explains to the british radio, that he started taking fake Xanax when he was 17. A friend offered it to ease his anxiety. At first he felt better, happier, then everything changed: “I started fighting with my family, I tried to stab my mother, I was ready to attack my father”, confides the young man. After fits of violence and suicidal thoughts, he sought treatment.
An increase in the number of deaths
Health professionals are concerned about the rise in the number of deaths associated with alprazolam: from one death in Northern Ireland in 2015, the number rose to 26 in 2017. According to the Irish medical examiner, the figure could reach 50 for the year 2018. “This shows that this is not an emerging crisis, but an escalation, underlines Joe McCrisken. It is a very concrete public health issue”. In Scotland, the number of deaths linked to Xanax and its counterfeits increased fourfold between 2016 and 2017.
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