Appearance and use of benzodiazepines

 

Benzodiazepines can come in tablets, capsules, suppositories and injections. They are often sourced via the black market and most frequently used by young people to help the “come down” process after using stimulants.

 

In a survey of American High School Seniors, it was found that 7.5% had used BDZs illegally, and 4.9% had been prescribed them medically. Despite the drug being prescribed, a significant proportion had used the drug illegally either before or after the prescription, or used them inappropriately to get high. BDZs could also be easily obtained from family and friends due to the inability to return controlled medicines to pharmacies (which has only recently been overturned).

 

In Nepal, before 1990, heroin was normally smoked, with IV use being rare.39 However, pharmaceutically used drugs with the potential for abuse were introduced and it became common practice to inject a combination of heroin, diazepam (a BDZ) and promethazine, due to the ease of accessibility to these drugs and the equipment (such as syringes) being readily available from pharmacies. The mixture is more cost effective and gives a stronger effect and 70% of users take this over three times a day, however, this has led to increased prevalence of HIV due to sharing needles.