Benzodiazepines most common substance in overdose deaths in 2016, ahead of oxycodone and fentanyl

Benzodiazepines were involved in more drug-induced deaths in 2016 than heroin and methadone combined, but you would be hard-pressed to find any stories warning of their dangers on the front pages.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the sleeping and anti-anxiety pills were the most common single substance found in overdose deaths, ahead of opioids oxycodone and codeine and powerful narcotics like fentanyl.

"I have very grave concerns about the levels of benzodiazepine use in Australia," Trent Zimmerman, chair of the House of Representatives Health Committee, told 7.30.

"There's been a lot of focus on the risks of opioids and, at the same time, a lack of focus on the risks of benzos."

Nearly 6 million scripts for this group of anti-anxiety sleeping pill medication were handed out through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) last financial year.

That figure does not include hospital and private scripts, which experts estimate also run to the millions.

Janet Shaw, manager of Reconnexion, Australia's only sleeping pill addiction service, said there are more ambulance call-outs for benzos than heroin in Victoria.

"A very large proportion of people who take these tranquillisers for more than a few weeks find themselves in a dependency situation," she said.

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-12/benzodiazepines-australias-hidden-drug-problem/11383508

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