My friends are all getting “addicted” to Xanax, but I don’t think it’s Xanax

I’ve had several friends in the past year get Xanax prescriptions then be very open with the fact that they’re taking it before bedtime. Over the course of a few months, they start saying things like “it’s not working anymore, so I’m upping my dose,” “my doctor won’t prescribe me more, so I’m buying it from someone,” and “I need to cut back on it, it’s not good for me.” <br><br>Now I don’t think that the drugs they’re buying from people are actually Xanax - I think they’re being sold placebos or something else entirely. I’ve had a few experiences with black market drugs where I was lied to about what I was being sold, and I know that a lot of black market Xanax is actually just fentanyl or something else entirely. <br><br>The reason I suspect placebos is that a few of these friends have ended up in the ER due to “overdosing on Xanax” and the hospital couldn’t find a single traces of it in their system. It just seems like they’re taking something benign, getting hooked on it, and developing a tolerance to something entirely different. I’ve tried bringing this up with them, but they don’t want to hear it. <br><br>Anyone else have thoughts on this?