With dozens of overdose deaths in Kentucky involving a drug called the “Designer Xanax,” Attorney General Russell Coleman is calling on the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) to take emergency action to ban bromazolam.
“In a letter to Secretary Steven Stack, Coleman urged CHFS to use its authority to immediately schedule the drug, which will then empower law enforcement to crack down on it in the commonwealth,” the attorney general’s office said.
Bromazolam is being passed off as prescription pills including benzodiazepines, which are commonly used to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, insomnia, and seizures. Sold illicitly on the streets and online, bromazolam has proven to be both highly potent and even lethal, especially when combined with opioids or other central nervous system depressants.
Coleman wrote to Stack, “We can immediately empower law enforcement to crack down on the traffickers and distributors of this deadly drug. Your action could have an immediate and lifesaving impact on Kentuckians across our commonwealth.”
The Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force (NKDSF) contacted detectives with Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) about a troubling increase of bromazolam pills flooding the state. A Drug Strike Force investigation with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service recently interdicted one parcel containing 958 pills that were later confirmed to be bromazolam.
In Kentucky, the Office of Drug Control Policy has reported 47 overdose deaths in 2024 involving bromazolam. Despite its clear dangers, bromazolam remains unscheduled at the federal level, creating significant challenges for law enforcement and public health officials trying to respond to this emerging crisis.
“We live at a time when as little as one pill can-and is- killing our children. As parents and public officials, we must do all we can to stop illicit drugs and counterfeit pills,” Coleman said. “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 Office of the Attorney General has already engaged the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration regarding the emergency scheduling of bromazolam at the federal level.
Bromazolam has already been scheduled in states including Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia.
A copy of the letter is available here.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
