Haha you know what I mean. Outside of us "drug nerds" your average Joe Public in the UK didn't even know what Xanax was a few years ago. They may have vaguely recognised the name from a reference somewhere but that's about it.
Now pressed bars have become the hot new thing they're most popular amongst the youth who listen to rap that hypes the stuff up. The older generations in the UK prefer Valium as their benzo of choice.
Middle aged drug users in our fine land also really love speed whereas youngins prefer coke. I always find it funny when an older person (usually women I've noticed, not sure why) mentions how great amphetamine is assuming I'm unfamiliar or even better says "did you know you can actually get prescribed speed?" and I respond by showing them a blister of dexxies
The Xanax thing though is something that really has grabbed my attention as a very interesting trend because it was basically memed into existence as far as the UK scene is concerned. Suddenly one of the fastest growing drug trends in the UK is a benzo that isn't even prescribed on the NHS and it's being used by a generation who previously used pretty much only uppers and barely even know what benzos are... it's fucking mad when you think about it.
Like mephedrone for example came out of nowhere in a sense, but in context it came from an MDMA and coke draught happening at the time so it filled an existing demand. With Xanax there is no such case. It's not replacing anything, it's literally that in a few years suddenly my generation has decided it likes benzos now. I was boshing benzos before it was cool and no one knew what the fuck I was even on about. Had I gone to uni just a few years later I'd have been a cool kid with my Xannies.
I predicted this would happen after the PSA wiped out the RC benzo scene but no one paid much attention at the time. I found that odd too. Benzos were the biggest sellers on the RC scene by far and they have huge addictive potential but the media and government both largely ignored them. Only now that Xanax has become a trend have the media and government started caring about the rising benzo scene. It's been in the works ever since etizolam hit but the rappers helped a new benzo trend truly hit the mainstream culture.