“Keep a bag of xannies if you’re tryna join the family.” In one of the more compelling lines in the rapper Future’s song “Xanny Family,” Future advocates for the use of Xanax in order to be accepted into the social scene. Now, it’s no new thing for rap songs to blatantly chirp about the variety of illegal and prescriptions drugs they use and abuse. Yet, it further enables the culture for uneducated individuals to take a drug that when unregulated is harmful and even life threatening to its users.
Xanax, generic name Alprazolam, is a prescription drug of the benzodiazepine family, “benzos” for short. In layman’s terms, these benzos enhance the neural activity related to reducing and calming stress and anxiety. Alprazolam is the most commonly prescribed benzo so it’s no surprise that it is also the most commonly abused.
When properly prescribed and taken, Xanax is a very helpful drug for people with anxiety, panic, and a variety of other mental disorders. Yet, even when the patient takes the drug appropriately, benzodiazepines still alter your brain chemistry. The longer the person is prescribed to the drug, the higher the risk of physiological dependence and subsequently severe withdrawal symptoms. According to Dr. Charles Raison, a mental health expert for CNN and a psychiatrist at Emory University, Xanax is considered to have a “short-shelf life” meaning it goes in and out of your system relatively quickly. Dr. Raison stated, “Because of this many, people will begin to experience subtle withdrawal symptoms between doses which really can increase the addictive potential of this medication.”
Due to the severity of some of the side effects and withdrawal symptoms of Xanax, most people’s physicians gradually wean them off the drug. The side effects of Xanax include but are not limited to: drowsiness, dizziness, slurred speech, loss of coordination, trouble walking, memory problems, hallucinations, tremors and seizures.
I want to make this next point VERY clear. To this point, I have only written about the drug, the use, the side effects, and the withdrawal of Xanax WHEN IT IS PROPERLY USED, PRESCRIBED BY A PHYSICIAN, AND NOT MIXED WITH OTHER DRUGS OR ALCOHOL. When you interact Xanax with another drug or alcohol, the drug goes from a relatively low risk drug to a life-threatening situation.
Alcohol and Xanax are both depressants to your central nervous system. Additionally, they are broken down by the same liver enzymes in the body. This means that when a person combines alcohol and Xanax, it makes each drugs’ effects stronger and last longer. This combination significantly increases the risks for cardiac problems, respiratory depression, excessive sedation, loss of consciousness and dangerous accidents. Additionally, long-term abuse of Xanax and alcohol combined lead to cognitive and psychological consequences including memory loss, depression, insomnia, and agitation—many of the problems Xanax seeks to resolve in the first place. Not to mention, the risk of becoming interdependently addicted to both Xanax and alcohol.
Concerned yet? Unfortunately, mixing alcohol and Xanax is no longer the worst-case scenario in taking the drug. In recent months, multiple overdoses and deaths have been reported across the country that are linked to a new counterfeit Xanax titled by some experts as the “Super Pill.” The new street drug laces Xanax with Fentanyl—a highly powerful, addictive painkiller—at a lethal dosage. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is considered 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin. Moreover, these fake Xanax being sold on the street look nearly identical to the physician prescribed drug and are being sold at a low-cost.
Regrettably, people, particularly college students are popping Xanax like they are tic-tacs without truly understanding what they are putting in their body. This article is not meant to outcast or judge people who take Xanax. It is meant to inform the recreational users of the real short-term and long-term consequences of abusing a drug when it is not properly prescribed to you. It is meant to make you think twice before deciding to be “barred out” all weekend long. It is meant to try to deter this epidemic of mixing a prescription drug with alcohol and other dangerous drugs. It is meant to warn you that you are flirting with your life every time you do so.
It is a shame that a tool designed to help people for the better is being shown in such a negative light. If you are taking Xanax just for “fun”, please, just stop. If you are taking Xanax because you are struggling and you’re turning to the drug as the solution to your problem, please seek help. You have friends, family, and local support groups who are willing and want to help you to address what’s really bothering you. Because, Xanny, it’s not your family.
Resources for help and support:
http://www.recoveryconnection.org/xanax-addiction-withdrawal/
Further Reading:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-winkles/is-it-bedtime-for-benzos_b_7663456.html
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9