Phony Xanax Producing Deadly Results, Sheriff Says

LARGO, FL — Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri wants residents to “stop buying Xanax on the street.”

That warning comes on the heels of a number of fatal overdoses involving counterfeit Xanax. Since January, Pinellas County has witnessed nine overdose-related deaths. Three of those have been attributed to counterfeit Xanax created using a blend of Fentanyl and Xanax, Gualtieri explained during a Monday press conference.

The uptick in overdose deaths has law enforcement on edge with Gaultieri urging residents to “only use drugs prescribed by your doctor and purchased from a pharmacy.”

While the sheriff’s office has confirmed three of the overdoses were connected to street-purchased Xanax that contained a “lethal mixture of the drug Fentanyl and Xanax,” another six overdoes are strongly suspected to be related to the same type of counterfeit pills, the sheriff’s office said.

See Also:

• Suspected Spice-Related Overdose Calls Climb In St. Pete

To date, the overdose-related deaths have taken place from Largo south into St. Petersburg. There were also three overdose deaths between October 2015 and January 2016 attributed to the drug U-47700, the sheriff’s office said.

Since January, law enforcement countywide has recovered similar counterfeit Xanax/Fentanyl pills in nine separate cases. The pills were made to imitate actual Xanax pills and had the same shape, marking and size, the sheriff’s office said.

Fentanyl is considered “80 times more potent than Morphine and about 50 times more potent than pure heroine,"Gualtieri said. It is used primarily for pain, especially in treating cancer patients.

Law enforcement officials have yet to trace the source of the counterfeit pills. It is believed, however, their circulation is limited to Pinellas County at this point.

The Xanax warnings come on the heels of similar issues cropping up with synthetic marijuana, or spice. The illegal substance has been traced to 28 overdose-related calls in St. Petersburg alone. The city of Clearwater has also reported issues related to spice in the past few days.

Image via Shutterstock

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