Opinion: Online sellers of designer drugs are a dark partner in the opioid epidemic
One of Max’s friends taught him an easy way to buy shady drugs. What he learned almost killed him, and it opened my eyes to a hiding-in-plain-sight source of dangerous drugs that is amplifying the opioid epidemic.
When Max (not his real name) developed pancreatitis a decade ago, his physicians prescribed opioids to ease his extreme pain. When he experienced anxiety between episodes of pancreatitis, his physicians prescribed a benzodiazepine.
Benzodiazepines are used to treat anxiety and insomnia, symptoms they can effectively resolve, at least in the short term. Textbooks euphemistically call these drugs anxiolytics and hypnotics. An estimated 1 in 20 Americans use them each year. When taken long term, benzodiazepines can cause physical dependence. Their sudden discontinuation can be lethal.
The combination of opioids and benzodiazepines is common — that between 12 percent and 19 percent of patients who are prescribed an opioid are also prescribed a benzodiazepine. It is also dangerous, since both drugs increase the risk of slowing or stopping breathing. In fact, benzodiazepines are involved in of overdose deaths attributed to prescription drugs.
