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.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is calling on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in a joint letter to take emergency action to schedule a drug that has been linked to deaths in the state and across the country.