Counterfeit 'Xanax®' tablets: A comparative study of clinical and seizure data in Victoria, Australia.

IF 5.3 1区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Addiction Pub Date : 2025-08-26 DOI:10.1111/add.70174

Rebekka Syrjanen, Shaun L Greene, Sarah E Hodgson, Rachelle Abouchedid, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, Christie Magee, Melissa Bremner, Jennifer L Schumann

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and aim: There is growing evidence of counterfeit benzodiazepine products containing other substances, including non-regulated benzodiazepine-type new psychoactive substances (NPSs). This study sought to compare detections of seized suspect counterfeit alprazolam products with clinical cases that reported use of an alprazolam-containing product to better characterise community use.

Design and setting: Observational study set in Victoria, Australia, using data from the Victoria Police Drug Sciences Group (which compiles information about seized drugs submitted for evidential analysis and intelligence purposes) and the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia - Victoria (EDNAV) project (a prospective, observational study collecting clinical and analytical data for illicit drug-related presentations across a network of hospitals in Victoria, Australia).

Cases: Police seizures expected to contain alprazolam (March 2020 and August 2022) and EDNAV cases with a reported exposure to an alprazolam-containing product (September 2020 and August 2022).

Measurements: Descriptive study outlining drug detections in seized tablets and blood samples from EDNAV cases, comparing patterns of detection and changes over time.

Findings: A total of 623 police seizures were analysed, most commonly products labelled as 'Xanax®' (n = 266), 'Kalma®' (n = 196) or 'Mylan®' (n = 124). Thirty percent of seizures contained alprazolam only. A benzodiazepine-type NPS was detected in 375 seizures (60.2%). Exposure to non-prescribed alprazolam was reported in 11.2% (n = 125/1112) of EDNAV cases, with 68.8% identifying as male and a median age of 26 years (range 16-68 years). Eighty-seven cases reported the use of 'Xanax®'. Alprazolam was detected in 19 EDNAV cases. A benzodiazepine-type NPS was detected in 78.4% of EDNAV cases. Both datasets saw a shift in detections from etizolam (2020) to clonazolam (2021) and then clobromazolam (2022).

Conclusions: Suspect counterfeit alprazolam products seized by police in Victoria, Australia, in 2020 and 2022 commonly contained other drugs and/or new psychoactive substances, with an apparent limited consumer awareness of the tablet composition.

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假冒“Xanax®”片剂：澳大利亚维多利亚州临床和缉获数据的比较研究。

背景和目的：越来越多的证据表明假冒苯二氮卓类产品含有其他物质，包括不受管制的苯二氮卓类新型精神活性物质（nps）。这项研究试图将查获的疑似假冒阿普唑仑产品的检测结果与报告使用含阿普唑仑产品的临床病例进行比较，以更好地描述社区使用情况。设计和环境：在澳大利亚维多利亚州进行观察性研究，使用来自维多利亚州警察药物科学小组（该小组汇编了为证据分析和情报目的提交的有关缉获药物的信息）和澳大利亚-维多利亚州新兴药物网络（EDNAV）项目（一项前瞻性观察性研究，收集了澳大利亚维多利亚州医院网络中与非法药物有关的临床和分析数据）的数据。案件：警方缉获的含有阿普唑仑的案件（2020年3月和2022年8月）和据报告接触含有阿普唑仑产品的EDNAV案件（2020年9月和2022年8月）。测量：描述性研究概述了从EDNAV病例中缉获的片剂和血液样本中检测到的药物，比较了检测模式和随时间的变化。调查结果：共分析了623例警方缉获的药物，最常见的产品标记为“Xanax®”（n = 266），“Kalma®”（n = 196）或“Mylan®”（n = 124）。30%的癫痫发作只含有阿普唑仑。375例癫痫发作中检出苯二氮卓类NPS（60.2%）。11.2% （n = 125/1112）的EDNAV病例报告有非处方阿普唑仑暴露，其中68.8%为男性，中位年龄为26岁（16-68岁）。87例报告使用“Xanax®”。19例EDNAV检出阿普唑仑。78.4%的EDNAV病例检出苯二氮卓类NPS。这两个数据集的检测结果都从依替唑仑（2020年）转变为氯硝唑仑（2021年），然后是氯丙唑仑（2022年）。结论：澳大利亚维多利亚州警方在2020年和2022年查获的涉嫌假冒阿普唑仑产品通常含有其他药物和/或新的精神活性物质，消费者对片剂成分的认识显然有限。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Addiction 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

10.80

自引率

6.70%

发文量

319

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Addiction publishes peer-reviewed research reports on pharmacological and behavioural addictions, bringing together research conducted within many different disciplines. Its goal is to serve international and interdisciplinary scientific and clinical communication, to strengthen links between science and policy, and to stimulate and enhance the quality of debate. We seek submissions that are not only technically competent but are also original and contain information or ideas of fresh interest to our international readership. We seek to serve low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries as well as more economically developed countries. Addiction’s scope spans human experimental, epidemiological, social science, historical, clinical and policy research relating to addiction, primarily but not exclusively in the areas of psychoactive substance use and/or gambling. In addition to original research, the journal features editorials, commentaries, reviews, letters, and book reviews.