Flualprazolam is a tranquilizer of the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepines (BZDs) fused with a triazole ring. It was first synthesised in 1976, but was never marketed. It can be seen as the triazolo version of fludiazepam. It has subsequently been sold as a designer drug, first being definitively identified as such in Sweden in 2018. It can be described as the 2'-fluoro derivative of alprazolam or the fluoro instead of chloro analogue of triazolam, and has similar sedative and anxiolytic effects.
Legal status
Flualprazolam is banned in Sweden, also is illegal in the UK. In December 2019, the World Health Organization recommended flualprazolam for international scheduling as a Schedule IV medication under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
In the United States, Oregon and Virginia have placed Flualprazolam into Schedule I. On December 23, 2022, the DEA announced it had begun consideration on the matter of placing Flualprazolam under temporary Schedule I status. Later on July 25, 2023, the DEA published a pre-print notice that Flualprazolam would become temporarily scheduled as a Schedule I controlled substance from 07/26/2023 to 07/26/2025.