The Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team (Tri-DENT) is investigating the local sale and use of look-alike black market Xanax, according to a news release.
A large volume of look-alike Xanax is believed to be produced by a local homemade pill press, Tri-DENT officials reported. The narcotics contained within the homemade pills are unknown and potentially dangerous.
The investigation revealed illegal pills have caused medical problems for several local people who used them. Individuals who consumed them showed signs of overdosing, similar to an opioid overdose, from a single pill, Tri-DENT reports.
The investigation is ongoing. Tri-DENT officials are releasing information for public safety.
"Users of these look-alike Xanax -- or Xanny Bars, as they are commonly referred to -- may not realize the street drug they are buying from a dealer contains a potentially lethal compound of unknown narcotics such as fentanyl and/or other opiates or synthetic opiates," Tri-DENT stated in a news release.
The pills may look similar to prescription Xanax, but the internal properties vary.
Alprazolam (Xanax) is a drug whose effects include significant depression of the central nervous system, anti-anxiety properties and sedation. Since fentanyl is powerful in small quantities, a dose the size of a pen tip is enough to induce an overdose, Tri-DENT officials said. Cutting alprazolam with fentanyl is an inexpensive and effective way of increasing the sedating strength of the pill, while simultaneously reducing the amount of Xanax needed to cause a high.
Fentanyl has been responsible for multiple deaths in the last several years in La Salle County and the surrounding area. The combination of Xanax and fentanyl, as well as other opioids and depressants such as alcohol, is dangerous because it can cause respiratory depression, in which a person's breathing is drastically slowed and sometimes stopped.
The following three symptoms are signs of an opioid-related overdose: constricted pupils, unconsciousness and respiratory depression, which is identifiable by examining a person's breathing patterns, depth of breath and blue skin tint.
If a person is showing signs of opioid overdose, immediately call 911 for emergency medical personnel.
Tri-DENT officials said the look-alike Xanax warning only applies to street-level pills, not those prescribed by a doctor or obtained from a pharmacy.