BENZODIAZEPINES (Courtesy of drugscope)

Minor tranquillisers and drugs such as an diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), nitrazepam (Mogadon), flunitrazepam (Rohypnol)) and temazepam.

Minor tranquillisers are synthetic drugs, which are manufactured as medicines mainly to treat anxiety and epilepsy and as sleeping tablets. (Major tranquillisers are used for the treatment of long-term mental health problems).

For medical uses tranquillisers are usually swallowed as pills or capsules. They are also used in the same way as street drugs but some forms, such as temazepam, can also be prepared for injection.

THE LAW

All minor tranquillisers are Prescription Only medicines under the Medicines Act. This means they can only be legally supplied by a pharmacist in accordance with a doctor's prescription. They are also controlled as a class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. This also makes it illegal to supply them to someone else, the maximum penalty being five years imprisonment and a fine. However, it is still not illegal to possess them in their medicine form without a prescription. This means that if someone obtains tranquillisers on a doctor's prescription and gives some to someone else they are committing an offence. The person receiving the tranquillisers is not committing an offence.

There are two exceptions. Possession of either temazepam or Rohypnol without a doctor's prescription is an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act with a maximum sentence of two years and an unlimited fine or both.

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Surveys suggest that one in seven British adults take them at some time each year and that 1 in 40 take them throughout the year. Many people are on long term repeat prescriptions with up to half the prescriptions being given without the patient seeing their doctor. Twice as many women as men are prescribed them and estimates for the number of people who are dependent on them have varied from 200,000 to 1.75 million people.

There is no known illegal manufacture of tranquillisers but in recent years prescribed or stolen tablets have found their way on to the street market selling for as an little as 25p a tablet. They are now used as street drugs in a number of ways. This includes taking them in combination with other drugs to increase the depressant effect of alcohol and heroin or to offset the effects of stimulant drugs such as an ecstasy and amphetamine.

Temazepam is also used by people who inject drugs either as a cheap drug of first choice or when drugs such as heroin are unavailable. The manufacturers of temazepam changed it from a liquid filled capsule to a gel to try and prevent it being injected, but the practice continued and led to recent changes in the law.

HISTORY

Tranquillisers were first manufactured in the 1960s and seen as safe, non-addictive drugs which could be used by doctors to treat anxiety and sleeping pills. They were at first regarded as a hazard free alternative to the prescribing of barbiturates.

Although many people, particularly women, suffered serious side effects and dependence prescribing of tranquillisers continued to grow for over 20 years. It was not until the late 1970s that these problems were openly acknowledged. Prescriptions for tranquillisers fell from just over 30 million in 1979 to less than half that amount in the late 1990s. Despite this fall tranquillisers are still the most commonly prescribed mood altering drugs in the UK.

EFFECTS/ RISKS

Tranquillisers are sedative drugs, which slow down people's reactions and can make them feel drowsy, lethargic and forgetful. They relieve anxiety and tension and can make people feel more calm and relaxed. Effects begin after 10-15 minutes and can last up to 6 hours without repeating the dose.

"It's like a dream state. It gets you away from it all. It cushions you so you don't worry or care anymore. You don't really know what is going on".

The effect of slowing reactions and making people drowsy can make accidents more likely. It can be dangerous to drive whilst on tranquillisers. With regular use tolerance can develop quickly so increasing amounts are needed to get the same effect. Dependence can also quickly develop with regular use so that withdrawal can lead to intense anxiety, nausea, insomnia, irritability and headaches. Sudden withdrawal from very high doses can be very dangerous and result in confusion and serious convulsions. Many people find it very difficult to give up and may need a gradually reduced dosage to do so.

"Temazepam took over my life. It creeps up on you and is very addictive. I started using to bring me down from acid trips to make me feel normal. I liked them and started to use more and more. And that's when the problems really started because I couldn't leave them alone".

Regular users often find that after a time tranquillisers become ineffective in giving the desired effect. Continual use may mean they become ineffective as sleeping pills after 2 weeks and ineffective to combat anxiety after 4 months. The temptation is then to increase the dosage. Tranquillisers are only really effective as short-term medicines but many people are dependent and have been taking them for several years.

A lot of tranquillisers have to be taken to fatally overdose but there have been many cases where people have died when also drinking alcohol.

Injecting temazepam can be particularly dangerous and has resulted in a number of fatal overdoses, when its use is combined with other depressant drugs.