A white alprazolam (Xanax) bar expected to contain alprazolam was found to contain bromazolam and flubromazepam in addition to alprazolam.

A brown capsule expected to contain diazepam was found to contain bromazolam and flubromazepam instead.

What does this mean?

Bromazolam is a new benzodiazepine that has strong sedative effects. There is limited information available about it – and it hasn’t been used in human trials. Although bromazolam is from the same family of drugs as alprazolam and diazepam, benzos can vary greatly in potency, onset and effects.

Flubromazepam is a long-lasting benzo which can take up to 4 hours for the onset effects to be felt, and can last up to 3 days. This is the first time it’s been detected at CanTEST.

Consumers of a combination like the ones found in these samples are likely to experience a far deeper and longer period of sedation than they may expect.

Your risk of harm is significantly increased if using depressants such as alcohol, GHB or opioids with benzos, consuming multiple different benzos in one pill or by consuming multiple benzo pills.

Test your stuff! A global trend is that unregulated or counterfeit pharmaceuticals, such as benzodiazepines, are becoming more common and very convincing, making them hard to distinguish from legitimate pharmaceutical products. In some cases, there are several different substances inside a single pill – drastically raising the risk for users.

Alprazolam is not readily available from Australian pharmacies. While other brands containing alprazolam can be obtained on prescription, ‘Xanax’ bars are not available in Australia. This means you can expect most if not all ‘Xanax’ bars to be counterfeit, containing novel benzodiazepines or other substances instead of or in addition to alprazolam.

Don’t mix it with alcohol or other depressants. Remember, some benzos can have effects that last multiple days after use.

Start low, go slow. Try a test dose first and never use alone.

Be alert for signs of an overdose. Think someone has overdosed? Call 000 immediately.