UK children dealing Xanax in schools
Anxiety drug Xanax is being used by UK children as young as 11 with charities claiming some youngsters are dealing it on school premises, an investigation alleges.
Headteachers are warning children are not understanding the risks associated with Xanax, the brand name for the drug Alprazolam, which is used to treat anxiety and panic attacks and is widely prescribed in the US, telegraph.co.uk reported.
But there are concerns it is being abused in the UK, after the BBC said it had seen letters from head teachers raising concerns over the abuse of such medications.
The corporation said it had figures showing that in 2017, there were 240 ambulance call outs for Xanax abuse by UK children aged 11 to 18. A pediatrician also said she’d treated children abusing the drug. They think it’s a safe way of getting into drugs.
One teacher said he feared pupils had made an assumption that taking Xanax was safer than using illegal drugs.
Nick Lind, deputy head of Redland Green School in Bristol, told the BBC: “Students are finding out that that’s the drug that’s available, they’ve seen other people using it. Sometimes it’s mentioned, because it is an anti-depressant and an antianxiety drug.
“Because it’s seen as a prescription drug and therefore not seen necessarily by some people as dangerous because it is prescription, they don’t understand the risks. They think it’s a safe way of getting into drugs.”
Xanax, the brand name for the drug Alprazolam, is used to treat anxiety and panic attacks.
It is widely prescribed in the US and can be obtained on private prescription in the UK. But among some teenagers and young adults in Britain it is increasingly being abused.
Drug charity Addaction also said it was ‘concerned’ by the number of UK teenagers it was helping that had addiction problems related to the drug.
The Home Office said firm action was being taken ‘to prevent the harms caused by drugs’.