Increase in the consumption of counterfeit drugs

Counterfeit Xanax tablet

In recent months, the consumption of counterfeit drugs has been on the rise in Quebec. Take Xanax® as an example. It's mainly consumed by youth, and fatal Xanax® overdoses have been reported in the news a number of times recently. In light of this trend, the Drug and Organized Crime Awareness Service (DOCAS) would like to tell you about this phenomenon.

Counterfeit drugs

Would you be able to tell the difference between counterfeit drugs and real drugs? Probably not! Most of the time, counterfeit pills are almost identical to real ones. When police officers seize suspected counterfeit drugs, the only way to find out what the drugs actually contain is to have them analyzed in a specialized lab.

The problem is that, although they look almost exactly the same as real drugs, counterfeit drugs are handmade in potentially unsanitary clandestine labs, so inferior substances and ingredients could be used. Counterfeit drugs often contain the wrong dose and the wrong active ingredients.

It has become a major trend among youth to buy counterfeit Xanax® on the illegal market. Often, these pills don't contain any alprazolam, the active ingredient in Xanax®. Rather, they contain other potentially stronger or dangerous benzodiazepines (or related substances), such as etizolam, flubromazolam and clonazepam.

Counterfeit Xanax® and a number of other counterfeit drugs are everywhere and can be easily found just about anywhere, including on the street, the internet, the Dark Web, social media and even illegal pharmacy websites. All of these substances have the potential for abuse, so it's important to learn about the harmful effects and risks of consuming them.

These classes of drugs are the most counterfeited and the most widely available on the illicit market:

  • Benzodiazepines: mainly prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia; examples include lorazepam (Ativan®), alprazolam (Xanax®), diazepam (Valium®)
  • Psychostimulants: mainly prescribed to treat attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADD/ADHD); examples include methylphenidate (Ritalin®, Adderall®) and lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse®)
  • Opiods: mainly prescribed to treat chronic pain, serious injuries or pain after surgery; examples include oxycodone (Oxyneo®), hydromorphone (Dilaudid®), fentanyl and codeine
  • Erectile dysfunction drugs: mainly prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction; examples include sildenafil (Viagra®) and tadalafil (Cialis®)

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