Metro - More women 'addicted to prescription tranquillisers than illegal drugs'

0llusion

0llusion

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
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111
I preferred the headline in the copy I got handed this morning of 'Zombie Epidemic' right underneath a half-page aerial view photo of an explosion (which despite being at the top of the front page is left untitled and actually relates to an explosion in Oldham).

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/903380-more-women-addicted-to-prescription-tranquillisers-than-illegal-drugs

They are more likely to abuse tranquillisers prescribed by their doctors than use cannabis or other illegal substances, a UN study found.

It is a ‘growing health problem’, the researchers claim, with the suspicion that GPs are dishing out sleeping pills and painkillers to patients they believe are addicted to them.

‘Some women just need something to help them get through the day and deal with all the stresses of life such as looking after children and work or the lack of it,’ said Family Doctor Association chairman Dr Peter Swinyard.

‘Women tend to be better at coming to see their GPs if they have a problem and sometimes doctors just dispense pills and sympathy.’

Cannabis is the world’s most popular drug with 224million users worldwide, says the UN.

But its World Drug Report shows 4.2 per cent of women in Europe abuse tranquillisers compared with 3.5 per cent who smoke cannabis.

‘While illicit drug use among males in general greatly exceeds that among females, the non-medical use of tranquillisers and sedatives among females in countries where data are available is a notable exception to the rule,’ the report warns.

In Britain, the number of painkiller prescriptions increased sixfold to 1.4billion from 1991 to last year.

Dr Swinyard added: ‘The problem of prescription drugs is increasing and it’s difficult to tackle.’
Click to expand...

On a related note: was in a health centre the other day that had a big sign stating "POLICY ON BENZODIAZEPINES" followed by how there was no chance the doctor was going to prescribe anything that fell under this category (in which they'd also lumped Z-hypnotics), I wonder if this is related, I don't spend much time in hospitals etc, so I don't know if this is a common practice thing nowadays?
 
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