The Pennsylvania GOP announced on X that Attorney General Dave Sunday has joined a 21-state coalition urging the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to ban bromazolam, an unregulated drug known as “designer Xanax,” which has been increasingly linked to overdose deaths.
Attorney General Sunday joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general calling on the DEA to take emergency action to ban bromazolam, highlighting its rapid emergence as a public health threat. According to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, bromazolam was involved in 59 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania in 2022, and that figure nearly tripled a year later. Sunday emphasized that unlike regulated medications, illicitly manufactured bromazolam lacks quality controls and can be especially lethal when mixed with other drugs.
According to a health advisory from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, designer benzodiazepines like bromazolam are potent, unpredictable, and often associated with overdose clusters—troubling when combined with opioids, alcohol, or other depressants. Designer benzodiazepines contributed to 59 overdose fatalities in 2022 and rose to 147 by mid-2023, with bromazolam being the primary culprit. This alarming upward trend reflects an evolving drug supply where illicit synthetic benzos are increasingly implicated in fatal outcomes.
In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear issued an emergency regulation banning bromazolam as a Schedule I substance after it was linked to nearly 50 overdose deaths in the state last year—demonstrating urgent local response. This action occurred as Kentucky’s Attorney General led a multistate coalition urging the DEA to impose a federal ban, citing law enforcement’s need for tools to curb distribution. AP News reports that coalition leaders specifically called for federal scheduling to support prosecutions and remove the drug from circulation.
The Pennsylvania GOP is the state affiliate of the Republican Party, focused on public safety, fiscal responsibility, and conservative governance. The Party praised Sunday’s leadership in confronting emerging drug threats and supporting enforcement tools to safeguard families. According to its public communications, the Pennsylvania GOP remains committed to electing leaders and enacting legislation that strengthen communities and protect public health.
