Benzodiazepines have been used for nearly six decades to treat seizures, anxiety and insomnia. In 2017, more than 26 million prescriptions for benzodiazepines and related drugs were written in Canada. They include diazepam, lorazepam, alprazolam and clonazepam, and go under brand names including Valium, Ativan and Xanax.
But addiction experts have long worried about what they view as the widespread misuse and overprescribing of benzodiazepines. There is a growing push to come to grips with a problem that crosses generations, from seniors hooked for decades to the alarming emergence of Xanax abuse among teens in places like Nova Scotia.
Some are now even drawing parallels to the opioid addiction problem.
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In Nova Scotia, the prescribing of benzodiazepine and related drugs remains stubbornly above the Canadian average, despite some modest decreases since 2012, according to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Other Atlantic provinces fare even worse. Newfoundland and Labrador is double the national average. New Brunswick's numbers are even higher.
From 2011 to October 2018, benzodiazepines contributed to 313 "acute toxicity deaths" in Nova Scotia. Nearly 80 per cent involved a deadly mix with opioids.
