Benzodiazepine Drug Addiction

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Benzodiazepines (Benzos) are one of the most commonly abused and addictive prescription drugs. Benzodiazepines are a class of central nervous system depressant drugs commonly prescribed for short-term treatment of anxiety or insomnia. Proprietary names for drugs in this group include Valium, Xanax, Librium, and Halcion.According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), nearly 1.3 million emergency department (ED) visits in 2004 were associated with drug misuse/abuse. Nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals was involved in nearly 500,000 of these ED visits.

Benzodiazepines were present in more than 100,000 emergency department visits associated with nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals. Benzodiazepines include alprazolam and clonazepam.

From 1995 to 2002, drug abuse related emergency department visits involving benzodiazepines increased 41%.

Nearly half of the drug abuse related emergency department visits involving benzodiazepines were the result of suicide attempts.

Suicide related visits involving benzodiazepines have been stable since 1995, but visits attributed to drug dependence and drug taking for psychic effects have been increasing.

Of the 23,000 admissions in SAMHSA's Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) that involved benzodiazepines, only 19 percent were for primary benzodiazepine use; 81 percent were reported as secondary to the use of alcohol or another drug.