Who abuses benzodiazepines?
Benzodiazepines are taken for recreational purposes by increasing numbers of drug abusers (Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin 1997). The true prevalence is not known but benzodiazepines commonly form part of a polysubstance abuse pattern; for example, at the Liverpool Drug Dependency Unit, 44 per cent of a random sample of 100 injecting drug users entering treatment were also using benzodiazepines (Shaw et al. 1994). Benzodiazepines have been taken by opiate, amphetamine and cocaine users worldwide for about 20 years and are now creeping into the teenage ‘rave’ scene amongst users of MDMA (Ecstasy) and LSD (Strang et al. 1993). Various intoxicating drug- benzodiazepine combinations such as ‘Tem-Tems’ (buprenorphine and temazepam) and temazepam and lager are popular, particularly in the north of England and Scotland. Indeed. benzodiazepines are the single most misused category of drug in Scotland (Robertson and Ronald 1992). A contemporary youth craze in Glasgow is to ride the buses all day
