Kentucky Attorney General calls for immediate ban of ‘designer Xanax,’ linked to 47 overdoses in state

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is urging health officials to take emergency action to ban bromazolam, an unregulated synthetic drug linked to 47 deaths in Kentucky.

Bromazolam, also known as “designer Xanax,” is being passed off as prescription pills, including benzodiazepines, which are commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures. It is being sold illicitly on the streets and online.

“It is both highly potent and unpredictable, especially when combined with opioids or other central nervous system depressants,” Coleman said in a letter to Health Secretary Steve Stack. “Unlike regulated medications, illicitly manufactured bromazolam lacks any quality controls, making it particularly lethal for unsuspecting users.”

The letter, dated Aug. 5, urged the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to use its authority to immediately schedule the drug, which would then empower law enforcement to be able to crack down on it in Kentucky.

“By using your authority to schedule bromazolam through emergency action, we can immediately empower law enforcement to crack down on the traffickers and distributors of this deadly drug,” Coleman wrote. “Your action could have an immediate and lifesaving impact on Kentuckians across our commonwealth.”

According to a news release, the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, along with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, confiscated a package with 958 pills that were later confirmed to be bromazolam — an unscheduled drug, which creates “significant challenges for law enforcement and public health officials trying to respond to this emerging crisis.”

In Kentucky, the Office of Drug Control Policy reported 47 overdose deaths in 2024 involving bromazolam.

“We live at a time when as little as one pill can — and is — killing our children.” Coleman said in the release. “As parents and public officials, we must do all we can to stop illicit drugs and counterfeit pills. The threat is clear, and all of us must work together to keep these drugs off our streets to save Kentuckians’ lives.”

In addition to seeking this emergency action from the cabinet, the attorney general is working to get the drug scheduled at the federal level. Bromazolam is already scheduled in Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia.