Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear took emergency action Monday to ban the sale of "designer Xanax," responding to a request from his state's attorney general who is leading a broader effort to combat the highly potent synthetic drug linked to dozens of overdose deaths last year in the Bluegrass State.

Kentucky designated "bromazolam" as a Schedule 1 controlled substance as Gov. Andy Beshear also led a push to have it designated similarly at the federal level.

The governor’s action against bromazolam comes after Attorney General Russell Coleman called for banning the drug often called ‘designer Xanax.’ Coleman says bromazolam is dangerous and unpredictable and linked to nearly 50 deaths in the commonwealth.