Drug Types 21them. This class of drugs passes into the milk of nursing mothers and may
depress consciousness, pulse rate, and respiration of nursing infants.
For information about specific barbiturate class depressants, see alphabetical
listings for:butalbital,mephobarbital,pentobarbital, andphenobarbital.
Benzodiazepine Class
Benzodiazepines became widely available for medical purposes in the 1960s
and replaced barbiturates in treatments of many conditions. Benzodiazepines
proved themselves less prone to abuse than barbiturates, in addition to being
safer—accidental overdose is unlikely because the amount needed for a med-
ical effect is so much smaller than a poisonous amount. In addition to reducing
anxiety, benzodiazepines may improve quality of sleep—from fighting insom-
nia to eliminating sleepwalking. This class of drugs is also used to calm people
and to treat convulsions. Some users experience mild euphoria.
As might be expected with drugs that promote sleep, benzodiazepines can
worsen reaction time, vigilance, and thinking abilities and therefore should be
used cautiously if a person is operating dangerous machinery such as an au-
tomobile. Problems may also develop for persons who are already unsteady
on their feet, such as elderly persons prone to falling. The substances can also
cause memory trouble, typically difficulty in recalling recent experiences.
Headache, peevishness, confusion, and tremors may occur. In unusual cases
rageful outbursts may occur. These are “paradoxical reactions,” meaning they
are the opposite of what would be expected from the drug. Expressions of
rage possibly emerge because the drug reduces anxiety in a person who is
angry about something, and less anxiety can lead to less inhibition against
doing something.
Over a 12-year span a practitioner observed patients taking benzodiazepines
to treat serious sleep problems such as night terrors and sleepwalking. The
practitioner found that 2% of this population (not 2% of all patients but just
those using benzodiazepines against these sleep disorders) occasionally
abused them,^27 and this population base included persons with a previous
history of drug abuse; thus we can expect benzodiazepine abuse to be even
lower in a general population. Among persons treated for drug abuse, ben-
zodiazepines are among the least-abused substances. Experiments giving free
access to benzodiazepines to persons undergoing treatment for drug abuse
revealed little interest in those compounds.^28 This class of depressants can be
highly popular among special populations, however. One study noted that
30% of alcoholics were using benzodiazepines.^29 When benzodiazepines were
given to rats in experiments, the animals’ consumption of alcohol increased,^30
suggesting that human benzodiazepine usage might increase alcohol’s appeal.
Although benzodiazepines are administered to treat alcohol withdrawal, com-
bining the two substances recreationally is a dangerous mix that can prove
fatal.
Different benzodiazepines have differing attractiveness to abusers. Mea-
sured by amount of misuse, claims made by misusers about drug effects, men-
tal and physical effects verified in scientific experiments, and impressions
reported by medical caregivers,diazepamis considered to have one of the