I feel it worth commenting that clonazepam, in common with almost all nitrobenzodiazepines is far more toxic in overdose than other benzodiazepines.
While there are records of people consuming multiple grams of diazepam and escaping with no long-term adverse effects, such doses of nitrobenzodiazepines are regularly fatal.
It also produces one of the nastiest abstinence syndromes of all the benzodiazepines. I suspect this is because it has particular a1 affinity. I believe that research has shown that it's a1 and a5 affinity that are the receptor subtypes most responsible for physical dependence.
I'd be interested if you have seen any studies, or have any opinions on the viability of switching from one of the nastier benzos such as clonazepam to something relatively more benign, like etizolam, or even diazepam.
As far as my lived experience goes it has so far been possible to substitute one type of benzo for another, with no real noticeable difference other than getting the dosage right on the new benzo for the same level of desired effects.
IIRC I've switched from etiz and xanax to clonazepam over recent times without issues. I realise that's going in the wrong direction as far as the harm reduction of their relative harms goes. But the vagaries of the clearnet benzo market has kind of forced me into a corner of using clonazepam, due to increasing and ongoing issues with the availability or authenticity of practically all other benzos.
Clonaz seems to the only one that has remained constantly reliable.
In the short term I have plans to experiment with switching from clonazepam to as low a dose as possible of diazepam during my next period of annual leave, which is not all that far away. I'd like to see how low I can push my dose without any rebound symptoms becoming too heavy.
These kind of breaks should at least help prevent my clonaz dose from needing to increase, they might even enable me to reduce slightly. By reducing too much or too quickly though I run the risk of increasing my social anxiety and stress at work so much that I risk damaging my work relationships, which are already one of my biggest challenges at work.
Fortunately I have recently discovered that certain types of weed that are not too strong or high in THC, help calm my mind down over the course of the following day, and also help me socially. So there is potential there of working out some kind of at least partial switch over. Although it's very likely that the benzos and the weed are synergising to make those effects more pronounced. Either works alone, but the afterglow thing with weed definitely boosts the effects. It's a known thing with about 80% of weed smokers surveyed in one survey, stated that they were on the spectrum, and found that their weed use helped them with their anxiety and stress and other related symptoms.