What is Xanax and what are its dangers?

Xanax is an anxiety and panic disorder medication. Credit: PA

With Xanax use increasing among teenagers and young people, just what is the drug that many are using for recreational use or to self-medicate?

  • What is Xanax?

Xanax is the brand name for anxiety and panic disorder medication Alprazolam, which is part of the benzodiazepine group that includes diazepam (Valium).

It usually comes in the form of four blocks in a little strip, or bar.

It is a class C drug not available on the NHS and can only be obtained legally in the UK via private prescription.

However, it can be bought relatively easily from dealers and online for as little as £1 per pill.

  • What effect does Xanax have?

Xanax is a tranquiliser designed to have a calming effect on users by increasing the amount of the organic chemical gamma-aminobutyric acid in the brain.

It is 10 times strong than Valium and has an immediate effect.

  • What are the risks?

Using Xanax over a period of time can lead to addiction, with people needing to take more to get the same effect.

Prolonged usage can also cause a number of withdrawal symptoms including anxiety, tremors, muscle pain and blurred vision.

Many people take it with alcohol to intensify the effect, but this also heightens the risk of overdosing.

As much of the Xanax people use in the UK is illegally bought, a large amount of the supply is thought to be fake, heightening the risks due to the impurity of the pills and naivety about their effect.

  • Why has Xanax use become an issue in the UK?

Xanax is widely available as a prescribed psychiatric medication in the United States.

As it increasingly featured in music and online culture in the US, demand for the drug rose and more and more people in the UK have wanted to get hold of it.

Consequently, there have been a growing number of incidents linked to Xanax in the UK, including:

  • Twenty teenagers in Wiltshire needed medical treatment in May 2017 after taking Xanax

  • Student Raven Hunt, 21, hanged herself in April 2017 two weeks after she stopped taking Xanax

  • Over Christmas, eight young people in Sussex were taken to hospital

  • Georgia Jackson, a student at the University of Brighton, killed herself two days after taking Xanax.

A dealer's image of Xanax posted on Instagram.

  • What is the law?

Xanax is listed as a class C controlled drug that can only be obtained legally in the UK through private prescription.

The maximum sentence for possessing, supplying or importing a class C drug is 14 years in jail.