opinion
Shocked by cases
in his constituency,
Bambos Charalambous
MP is calling for
government action
on Xanax
Anxious times
he powerful sedative Xanax is being
used by young people across the
country (DDN April, page 6). Some are
taking it to self-medicate to cope with
anxiety, while younger teenagers are
being groomed and exploited by drug
dealers taking advantage of the drug’s
‘zombie-like’ effects.
On 15 January, Xanax was mentioned for the first
time in the House of Commons chamber. I held the
debate to bring to light a disturbing case of a 14-year-
old girl in my constituency who had become hooked on
the drug. Her mother had contacted me shortly after I
was elected to ask for my help and this was the first
time I had heard of Xanax. I then became aware of how
widespread its use is.
For the next six months, I pretty much asked every
young person that I met if they had heard of Xanax.
They almost laughed in my face at my ignorance and
I’ve since been instructed to use the word ‘Xanny’. I’ve
now listened to more rap music than I ever thought I
would and was utterly shocked by the selfie Youtube
video shot just six hours before the death of Lil Peep
from a Xanax overdose.
Some young people in their early twenties told me
that they easily buy Xanax online for as little as £1 a
pill and use it to self-medicate for their anxiety. This is
worrying enough, but the case of my 14-year-old
constituent is far more sinister. Zoe (not her real name)
was a bright and popular girl with lots of friends, but
after she was approached by an older girl at her school
and an ex-pupil, she started going to private raves and
parties in houses across North London. She was swept
up in a whirl of excitement by this new lifestyle and
was introduced to Xanax, mixing it with alcohol and
becoming sedated.
Zoe would go missing for whole weekends and
would come home with marks and bruises on her
arms and legs with no recollection of how she got
them. The vulnerable state that Xanax puts users in
leaves them extremely vulnerable to abuse, and who
knows what happened to Zoe – she certainly can’t
remember. On some occasions, Zoe became aggressive
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towards her mother and after a
fraught evening she ended up
spending the night in a police cell.
Again, she had no recollection of
any of this.
Despite help from the police
and abduction warning notices
that were served on six people,
Zoe was now being heavily
groomed. ‘Baggies’ were hidden in
Zoe’s bedroom and things took a
turn for the worse when Zoe and
her best friend were found in a
mess on the school premises after
taking Xanax. Zoe wasn’t
excluded and was allowed to stay
on at school with some extra
support services. Zoe’s mother,
and the school tried their best but
she was still able to get hold of
‘Some young people
in their early twenties
told me that they
easily buy Xanax
online for as little as
£1 a pill and use it to
self-medicate for
their anxiety.’
dirt-cheap Xanax, peddled by a dealer from a booth in
a McDonalds restaurant right next to a police station.
All the information that had been pieced together
was passed on to the police who arrested three
people on drug-related charges in December. This was
not before Zoe and her best friend were found to be
drunk on the school premises and then permanently
excluded from school.
Whether the glamourisation of Xanax use is a
matter of art imitating life or life imitating art, the
problem is certainly a real one in the UK. The truth is
that there is a cultural and age divide and, for whatever
reason, the fact remains that Xanax is the drug of
choice for some young people. Maybe it’s because it
helps numb the pain, maybe it’s because it is
fashionable, maybe it’s because it is cheap and easy to
get hold of – I can only speculate. I’ve called on the
government to research the prevalence of Xanax use in
the UK, to raise public awareness about the effects and
potential harms and to provide specialist support for
those who have developed a dependency.
Bambos Charalambous is MP for Enfield Southgate
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