Benzodiazepines: part of lifestyle in the 1980s.

Benzodiazepines are among the most widely used drugs in the world. Although there is a public perception that they are widely abused and dangerous, there is minimal evidence to support this suggestion. At the Ottawa Civic Hospital Family Medicine Centre, 3.4% of patients over 15 years old received a prescription for a benzodiazepine. Of this group, 5% received prescriptions for more than two benzodiazepine tablets a day during 1982. Of these 21 patients, five were likely to suffer significant withdrawal reactions. There has been a significant shift to short-acting benzodiazepines over four years to 80% from 16%. There has also been a 15% decline in prescriptions for benzodiazepines between 1978 and 1982. Because benzodiazepines are safe and effective, and appear to be used with care in treating anxiety, they should be accepted as useful drugs for controlling one of the most common symptoms seen in family practice.