(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — A synthetic drug linked to nearly 50 deaths in Kentucky last year moved closer to a nationwide ban Thursday, as federal officials announced plans to classify the substance as a controlled drug.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the Trump Administration intends to add bromazolam to the federal schedule of controlled substances, a move that would give law enforcement nationwide greater power to crack down on the drug. Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, who led a 21-state push for federal action earlier this year, announced the development.
“Law enforcement must continue running faster to keep up with the ever-evolving drug threat facing Kentucky and our nation,” Coleman said in a statement. “When the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force sounded the alarm about bromazolam and its deadly effects, we took action to take this drug off our streets.”
While additional steps remain in the federal regulatory process, the DEA’s announcement represents significant progress. The agency is moving to temporarily classify bromazolam as a Schedule I drug, indicating it has high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in the United States.
Known as “Designer Xanax,” bromazolam is often disguised as prescription benzodiazepines — medications commonly prescribed for anxiety, insomnia and seizures. The drug is sold illegally on streets and online, and has proven highly potent and potentially lethal, particularly when mixed with opioids or other central nervous system depressants.
Coleman first called attention to the drug in August, when he urged Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services to ban it statewide. “Your action could have an immediate and lifesaving impact on Kentuckians across our Commonwealth,” he wrote. State officials prohibited the drug within two weeks.
According to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, bromazolam was involved in 48 overdose deaths across the state in 2024.
