I have mixed feeling about benzos.
I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (something I've had my entire life, as opposed to being a direct product of stimulant (ab)use), so I've taken several different benzos in a theropeutic fashion in agreement with my doctor. Lorazepam, Clonazepam, Diazepam, Temazepam, and Alprazolam to name a few. And sure, they helped me (to an extent) with my condition, mainly allowing me to physically calm down and not be fearful of panic attacks. And my sister, who suffers from pretty much the same psychological conditions as myself, also has benefited much from benzos - they can be very good for people who are (unfortunately) born with heightened stress levels.
However, I also think benzos are possibly the most dangerous class of drugs in disguise. Because the "high" is typically so weak as compared to other depressant-type drugs, it's easy to not realise how quickly your body can get addicted to them, and how seriously they mess with your brian functions. There's no crash or hangover from a single normal-dose session; you don't wake up the next day with a reminder that drugs tend to take you up and then bring you back down. Furthermore, doctors will prescribe them in regimines that WILL get people physically addicted, yet at the same time not adequately forewarn them about such dependency. It seems like a lot of people are forced to learn the hard way. My doctor never warned me about withdrawals, despite writing me scripts for daily intake of Clonazepam, Diazepam and a few others. I learned both from experience and from research the extent to which they can be dangerous.
Also, it seems as if the high, if produced, does not grow linearly with respect to dosage. For example, I feel absolutely no change on 3mg of Lorazepam, yet 5mg has caused me to blackout and do "very foolish things." Similar stories are all over Bluelight. And this is not a good thing - for me the anxiety over whether or not my benzo dose is going to push me past that edge or not antagonizes the actual calming effect of the drug, rendering it less effective.
I've had a lot of low points in my drug career. I've had two horrifying piperazine experiences, have stayed up for 80 hours on amphetamines, have felt serious alcohol withdrawls after drinking daily for weeks at a time, and had a really rough time coming off of Effexor. However, I knew nothing about a how evil drug use could be until I was forced to go off of Xanax cold turkey (~3mg/day). It was the only time that I actually didn't just think things
might not be okay, but was pretty sure I
was going to die. Considering that people actually do die from benzo WD, this only potentiated my hysteria.
For the extremities of benzo WDs and growing tolerance, I personally do not think the recreational value is worth it at all. I've tried probably 8-10 diffrent benzos, and none of them ever gave me any real euphoria (either alone or in junction with other substances). Sure, they calm you down and can be similar to a few beers in helping you relax after a long day. But I personally would rather reach for opiates or alcohol as a recreational relaxer to try and manage my use of than benzos.
So ya, to summarise I think that if one seeks them legally through a (respectful and knowlegable) doctor to try and help issues with anxiety or sleep, they
can do well. Or if one can start low and work one's way up to a comfortable recreational dose and not be foolish about one's setting and inclusion of other substances, they can be good fun *on occasion*. Again though, for someone who has felt the addiction and experienced the WDs, I personally echo every single warning existing about these drugs.
Be careful everyone and have fun
