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Prescription Drug Addiction

Heroin, crack and cocaine abusers so often dominate thoughts about drug addiction. Visions of comatose bodies in bed-sits, crack-pipe or syringe close by or of presumptuous red-nosed yuppies in cocktail lounge toilets are the cautionary caveats admonishing drug usage. But a camouflaged drug epidemic is growing slowly in the shadows, one that is far removed from the world of crack houses and street corners. Prescription drug addiction is a widespread affliction and benzodiazepine dependency has been described by politicians and doctors as a bigger problem than that of cocaine or heroin.

Benzodiazepines are a class of psychoactive drugs that act as minor tranquilizers and work on the central nervous system. They can be administered in the treatment of anxiety disorders, insomnia, seizures and muscles spasms and can also be used alongside drugs such as prozac in treating depression. In Britain around twelve million prescriptions are written for benzodiazepines every year, which is a third more than the recommended limit set forth by prescribing guidelines in 1988.

As drug companies continue to push their products to the largest possible consumer base, the social costs go largely unmentioned. Experts have placed benzodiazepines at number two, behind alcohol, on the table of socially destructive drugs. This suggests that although heroin and crack cocaine will lead to a faster decline in the personal health of the abuser, benzodiazepines are actually more costly to society as a whole under current circumstances. Research commissioned by the Australian government has found a strong link between benzodiazepine dependency and crime, unemployment and homelessness.

Benzodiazepines are not the only offending pharmaceutical drugs. Opioids (pain killers) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (anti-depressants) have also come under scrutiny and criticism for their addictive effect on the user. Codeine, an ingredient found in many painkillers can work as a sedative releasing a feeling of wellbeing and although drug companies argue that modern-day anti-depressants are not addictive, coming off the drug can be such a torturesome experience that some patients are more likely to desire increased dosages rather than slowly withdrawing from the drug as often intended beforehand. According to first hand accounts from users, benzodiazepine is possibly the most hellish drug to withdraw from, even more so than heroin.

The scale of the prescription drug problem in Britain is highlighted by statistics that reveal that over 600'000 people each year are using the internet to order drugs that their doctor will no longer prescribe, or refused to prescribe in the first place. Such transactions are fraught with hazards and the internet drug-shopper is exposed to the serious health risks of sub-standard drugs cut with a mélange of unknown ingredients. There is no doubting the devastating consequences of illegal drug addiction. But it is time that high-level politicians and drug company executives allowed prescription drug addiction to gain similar levels of publicity and social concern.