The dangers of drugs like cocaine and heroin are well flagged, but did you realise that fake anti-anxiety medication (counterfeit benzodiazepines or ‘benzos’) is now a serious concern in our towns and villages?
Sold cheaply, at €2 a tablet, in realistic-looking blister packs, schoolgoers, GAA and soccer club members and people striving to get help for mental health issues are the targets.
That’s according to Wally O’Neill, director of the Wexford mental health charity, Sanctuary, formerly Wexford People Helping People.
“It’s a category of drugs that’s being overlooked,” he says. “You have tablets like Tranax and Xanax that traditionally are used to treat anxiety and depression.
“The people that are being targeted with these drugs wouldn’t dream of taking a line of cocaine or taking heroin. They are not criminals. This is the girl working down in the chipper on the Saturday night who might be feeling depressed. This is the young lad playing hurling who has broken up with his girlfriend.”
They are targeting school kids, he says. “This is a very cheap drug and they (the pushers) are saying ‘this will cure your depression, your anxiety, you don’t have to go to a doctor, you don’t have to join the queues for mental health services’.
“The most insidious thing about this is that people with anxiety issues, who are trying to get help for themselves, are being targeted.”
He has seen this happen while running the Sanctuary mental health charity in Wexford town. “We have had some of these people try to infiltrate our services,” he says.
“They will say they are depressed but the whole reason is for them to flog this drug... We will keep them away from our service users but this problem is widespread.”
Huge risks involved
Because it’s not known how the drugs are being made or what exactly is in them, taking them carries huge risks.
“I have seen the effects of it,” he says. “A lot of people who take it say they will get an effect very similar to heroin, feeling zonked out. The danger is that they will become addicted, and that it will lead to overdoses.
“These counterfeit benzodiazepines are also known to cause psychosis, to make depression dramatically worse, leading to suicidal ideation and sudden death syndrome.
Wally O'Neill, director of Wexford mental health charity, Sanctuary, and owner of Red Books bookshop.
"This is very real and it’s happening, not just in Wexford town, it’s every village. This stuff – because it’s so cheap – is getting into schools, into GAA clubs, soccer clubs, it’s everywhere. There needs to be a major awareness campaign about the dangers of these drugs because they are not on people’s radar.”
Sanctuary, the charity he is director of, is dedicated to promoting wellness, combating loneliness, and addressing high suicide rates.
It offers paid referrals to local counselling services as well as many support events each week.Wally also owns the award-winning Red Books bookshop in St Peter’s Square in Wexford town.
Cuan Mhuire
In Kildare, Tom Moran is a community employment supervisor with Cuan Mhuire, the addiction rehab charity, in Athy. His chief concern is around what the fake benzo tablets are made of.
“What we are seeing is that they have synthetic opiates in them – nitazines. (Real) benzodiazepines are muscle relaxants and there are several different types like Diazapam and Xanax, which, even if they are the real deal, are dangerous in themselves, if you take too much.
“But what’s being sold as benzodiazepines actually contain synthetic opiates and these can be far stronger than natural ones. It could be fentanyl which is 100 times more powerful than morphine.
“There is no regulation. People believe they are taking a muscle relaxant/anti-anxiety medication but there could be anything in there.”
Tom believes that for someone who would be ‘opiate naïve’, the risk of overdose or psychosis is high.
Tom Moran is a community employment supervisor with Cuan Mhuire, the addiction rehab charity, in Athy.
“What we’re seeing in presentations to Cuan Mhuire is people who are adamant they have only used cocaine or some other drug but synthetic opiates are showing up in their urine tests.”
In relation to benzodiazepines, giving them to people with mental health problems without GP or medical observation is very dangerous, he says.
“If you add in where the tablets are sourced from and what’s actually in them, you’ve another level of risk on top of that. These people are very vulnerable.” He points out that a lot of overdose deaths that include alcohol have “benzos on board as well.”
“They sedate you, they reduce your level of consciousness to the point where you can’t protect your airways.
“If someone has too much to drink and they vomit in their sleep, they’ll wake up enough to clear their airways by moving to the side or whatever. People with even a genuine benzo on board won’t be able to wake up enough to do that, though, so they will choke on their vomit. That’s a reasonably common occurrence with overdose deaths.”
Advice
Every time you take any medication, you’re taking a risk. Taking drugs sold illegally increases your risk exponentially. Normal risks like stroke and heart attack are also associated with these drugs as well as psychosis and suicide ideation.
Cuan Mhuire is a private charitable organisation with five centres in Ireland. It offers a low cost, 12-week rehabilitation programme, with recovering addicts paying a contribution of their illness benefit to the centres.
“It is the only provider of what is essentially free addiction treatment in this country,” Tom says.
Anyone can contact the centres directly. “We get calls from family but we insist on the person ringing themselves. They have to be ready.”
New synthetic benzodiazepine found in Ireland
The drug behind the recent overdoses at Portlaoise Prison has been identified as a new synthetic benzodiazepine.
The drug is known as clobromazolam and it’s the first time it has been identified in Ireland.
Professor Eamon Keenan, clinical lead of the HSE’s addiction services, says that the new synthetic benzodiazepine is extremely potent and is a sedative type of drug.
“The situation at Portlaoise Prison recently is an example of how volatile the drug market is. “New substances are appearing
on the market and causing harm quickly.” The HSE says this drug hasn’t been previously identified in other community settings.
What is the HSE advice on fake benzos?
The risks
You can’t be sure how you will react if you take them. A person could have an adverse mental health reaction or an episode of disinhibited behaviour.If you have an existing mental health issue, you could be at greater risk. You could also feel suicidal after taking them. Avoid using them to cope with difficult situations or if you have mental health concerns. Talk to your GP or another health professional. Signs of a benzo overdose
Blue or pale hands and lipsNauseaVomitingDifficulty breathingConfusionLimp bodySlow pulseBeing unresponsive but awakeHaving fits or unconsciousnessVisit drugs.ie/newbenzos for more information
Read more
Your health problems can come against you when buying a house
‘My sister died from sepsis – I’d never heard of it before’
The dangers of drugs like cocaine and heroin are well flagged, but did you realise that fake anti-anxiety medication (counterfeit benzodiazepines or ‘benzos’) is now a serious concern in our towns and villages?
Sold cheaply, at €2 a tablet, in realistic-looking blister packs, schoolgoers, GAA and soccer club members and people striving to get help for mental health issues are the targets.
That’s according to Wally O’Neill, director of the Wexford mental health charity, Sanctuary, formerly Wexford People Helping People.
“It’s a category of drugs that’s being overlooked,” he says. “You have tablets like Tranax and Xanax that traditionally are used to treat anxiety and depression.
“The people that are being targeted with these drugs wouldn’t dream of taking a line of cocaine or taking heroin. They are not criminals. This is the girl working down in the chipper on the Saturday night who might be feeling depressed. This is the young lad playing hurling who has broken up with his girlfriend.”
They are targeting school kids, he says. “This is a very cheap drug and they (the pushers) are saying ‘this will cure your depression, your anxiety, you don’t have to go to a doctor, you don’t have to join the queues for mental health services’.
“The most insidious thing about this is that people with anxiety issues, who are trying to get help for themselves, are being targeted.”
He has seen this happen while running the Sanctuary mental health charity in Wexford town. “We have had some of these people try to infiltrate our services,” he says.
“They will say they are depressed but the whole reason is for them to flog this drug... We will keep them away from our service users but this problem is widespread.”
Huge risks involved
Because it’s not known how the drugs are being made or what exactly is in them, taking them carries huge risks.
“I have seen the effects of it,” he says. “A lot of people who take it say they will get an effect very similar to heroin, feeling zonked out. The danger is that they will become addicted, and that it will lead to overdoses.
“These counterfeit benzodiazepines are also known to cause psychosis, to make depression dramatically worse, leading to suicidal ideation and sudden death syndrome.
Wally O'Neill, director of Wexford mental health charity, Sanctuary, and owner of Red Books bookshop.
"This is very real and it’s happening, not just in Wexford town, it’s every village. This stuff – because it’s so cheap – is getting into schools, into GAA clubs, soccer clubs, it’s everywhere. There needs to be a major awareness campaign about the dangers of these drugs because they are not on people’s radar.”
Sanctuary, the charity he is director of, is dedicated to promoting wellness, combating loneliness, and addressing high suicide rates.
It offers paid referrals to local counselling services as well as many support events each week.Wally also owns the award-winning Red Books bookshop in St Peter’s Square in Wexford town.
Cuan Mhuire
In Kildare, Tom Moran is a community employment supervisor with Cuan Mhuire, the addiction rehab charity, in Athy. His chief concern is around what the fake benzo tablets are made of.
“What we are seeing is that they have synthetic opiates in them – nitazines. (Real) benzodiazepines are muscle relaxants and there are several different types like Diazapam and Xanax, which, even if they are the real deal, are dangerous in themselves, if you take too much.
“But what’s being sold as benzodiazepines actually contain synthetic opiates and these can be far stronger than natural ones. It could be fentanyl which is 100 times more powerful than morphine.
“There is no regulation. People believe they are taking a muscle relaxant/anti-anxiety medication but there could be anything in there.”
Tom believes that for someone who would be ‘opiate naïve’, the risk of overdose or psychosis is high.
Tom Moran is a community employment supervisor with Cuan Mhuire, the addiction rehab charity, in Athy.
“What we’re seeing in presentations to Cuan Mhuire is people who are adamant they have only used cocaine or some other drug but synthetic opiates are showing up in their urine tests.”
In relation to benzodiazepines, giving them to people with mental health problems without GP or medical observation is very dangerous, he says.
“If you add in where the tablets are sourced from and what’s actually in them, you’ve another level of risk on top of that. These people are very vulnerable.” He points out that a lot of overdose deaths that include alcohol have “benzos on board as well.”
“They sedate you, they reduce your level of consciousness to the point where you can’t protect your airways.
“If someone has too much to drink and they vomit in their sleep, they’ll wake up enough to clear their airways by moving to the side or whatever. People with even a genuine benzo on board won’t be able to wake up enough to do that, though, so they will choke on their vomit. That’s a reasonably common occurrence with overdose deaths.”
Advice
Every time you take any medication, you’re taking a risk. Taking drugs sold illegally increases your risk exponentially. Normal risks like stroke and heart attack are also associated with these drugs as well as psychosis and suicide ideation.
Cuan Mhuire is a private charitable organisation with five centres in Ireland. It offers a low cost, 12-week rehabilitation programme, with recovering addicts paying a contribution of their illness benefit to the centres.
“It is the only provider of what is essentially free addiction treatment in this country,” Tom says.
Anyone can contact the centres directly. “We get calls from family but we insist on the person ringing themselves. They have to be ready.”
New synthetic benzodiazepine found in Ireland
The drug behind the recent overdoses at Portlaoise Prison has been identified as a new synthetic benzodiazepine.
The drug is known as clobromazolam and it’s the first time it has been identified in Ireland.
Professor Eamon Keenan, clinical lead of the HSE’s addiction services, says that the new synthetic benzodiazepine is extremely potent and is a sedative type of drug.
“The situation at Portlaoise Prison recently is an example of how volatile the drug market is. “New substances are appearing
on the market and causing harm quickly.” The HSE says this drug hasn’t been previously identified in other community settings.
What is the HSE advice on fake benzos?
The risks
You can’t be sure how you will react if you take them. A person could have an adverse mental health reaction or an episode of disinhibited behaviour.If you have an existing mental health issue, you could be at greater risk. You could also feel suicidal after taking them. Avoid using them to cope with difficult situations or if you have mental health concerns. Talk to your GP or another health professional. Signs of a benzo overdose
Blue or pale hands and lipsNauseaVomitingDifficulty breathingConfusionLimp bodySlow pulseBeing unresponsive but awakeHaving fits or unconsciousnessVisit drugs.ie/newbenzos for more information
Read more
Your health problems can come against you when buying a house
‘My sister died from sepsis – I’d never heard of it before’
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