MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. State Division has issued a travel warning about risky counterfeit tablets becoming sold at pharmacies in Mexico that normally include fentanyl.

The travel alert posted Friday says Americans should really “exercise caution when buying medication in Mexico.”

Tiny pharmacies in tourist places and border regions from time to time sell medicines advertised as OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax and other folks without the need of a prescription.

The State Division warned that such tablets are normally counterfeit and “may include deadly doses of fentanyl.”

“Counterfeit tablets are readily advertised on social media and can be bought at smaller, non-chain pharmacies in Mexico along the border and in tourist places,” it mentioned.

A study led by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles located that 68% of the 40 Mexican pharmacies visited in 4 northern Mexico cities sold Oxycodone, Xanax or Adderall, and that 27% of these pharmacies had been promoting fake tablets.

UCLA mentioned the study, published in January, located that “brick and mortar pharmacies in Northern Mexican tourist towns are promoting counterfeit tablets containing fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. These tablets are sold mostly to US vacationers, and are normally passed off as controlled substances such as Oxycodone, Percocet, and Adderall.”

“These counterfeit tablets represent a severe overdose danger to purchasers who feel they are acquiring a identified quantity of a weaker drug,” mentioned Chelsea Shover, assistant professor-in-residence of medicine at the David Geffen College of Medicine at UCLA.

Anecdotal proof recommend that the issue exists in beach resorts like Playa del Carmen and Tulum, not just in border cities.

The State Division did not respond to a request for comment on regardless of whether any Americans had overdosed or died due to the Mexico drug sales.

A State Division spokesperson wrote in response to the request that “The U.S. Division of State has no greater priority than the security and safety of U.S. citizens overseas. We take seriously our commitment to present U.S. citizens with clear, timely, and trusted data about each nation in the planet so they can make informed travel choices.”

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