Kentucky Health News
A drug blamed for the death of nearly 50 Kentuckians last year is one step closer to being taken off the streets throughout the United States, state Atty. Gen. Russell Coleman announced in a Dec. 19 news release.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has formally announced the Trump Administration’s intention to add bromazolam to the federal schedule of controlled substances. This move will empower law enforcement across the country to crack down on the drug and will increase awareness of the drug’s potentially deadly effects. Earlier this year, Coleman led a 21-state coalition calling on the DEA to schedule the drug.
Although there are still additional steps in the federal regulatory process, the DEA’s announcement is a major step toward protecting Kentuckians and all Americans from bromazolam. By temporarily classifying bromazolam as a Schedule I drug, the DEA acknowledges it has a high potential for abuse, and there is no currently accepted medical use in the U.S.
Commonly called “designer Xanax,” bromazolam is being passed off as prescription pills, including benzodiazepines, which are 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.
In an August letter to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Coleman called on Kentucky health officials to ban the drug in the commonwealth, writing, “Your action could have an immediate and lifesaving impact on Kentuckians across our commonwealth.”
Gov. Andy Beshear banned the drug within two weeks of that request through an emergency state designation that changed the drug to a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
“Law enforcement must continue running faster to keep up with the ever-evolving drug threat facing Kentucky and our nation,” Coleman said in the release. “When the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force sounded the alarm about bromazolam and its deadly effects, we took action to take this drug off our streets.”
The Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy reported 48 overdose deaths in 2024 involving bromazolam, according to the release.
