Did you know that 30% of opioid overdose deaths involve benzodiazepines? Benzo's such as Xanax and Valium increase the risk of overdose. If that wasn't bad enough, we're hearing of fake Xanax and other medications.  People have died of fentanyl laced Xanax. Gangs are moving away from selling cocaine and heroin to focus on health products. The risk is low and profits are high. Listen to this support group discuss the risks of benzodiazepines, and the new danger of counterfeit drugs.

Discussion Guide:

Benzodiazepines and opioids are not a good mix. If you take a medication such as Methadone or Suboxone, you put yourself at medical risk of harm if you combine it with a benzo.

Have you mixed the two classes of drugs?

Did you take both for legitimate reasons and use it as prescribed, or did you misuse them?

Have you known people who have overdosed from this mix?

Have you had experience with counterfeit pills?

How would you know whether you were given the real thing, or a dangerous mix?

Supplemental Reading:

Anna Almendrala, This Prescription Drug Is Implicated In Almost a Third of All Opioid Overdose Deaths, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opioid-overdoses-combination-benzodiazepine_us_58c83e16e4b01c029d76f5ad

Dennis Thompson, Fake Xanax Can Be A Killer, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fake-xanax-can-be-a-killer/

Drug Treatment Center Finder, Fentanyl-Laced Xanax Deadly Street Drug, Authorities Warn, http://www.drugtreatmentcenterfinder.com/fentanyl-laced-xanax-deadly-street-drug/

Sara Ganim, CNN, Pill Presses for Counterfeit Drugs Seized in Record Numbers, http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/17/health/pill-presses-counterfeit-fentanyl/

Lizzie Parry, Fake Drugs Seized in Crackdown on Counterfeit Medicines, http://www.capitalbay.news/world/842537-fake-drugs-seized-in-%C2%A351.6-million-interpol-crackdown-on-counterfeit-medicines.html