If parents haven’t heard about Benzos, they soon will. “We have seen an increase in Benzo abuse among teens in Ohio. We also see more polydrug use with the Benzo’s, such as combining their use with Alcohol and Opioids.” Shawn Bain, Drug Intelligence Officer for the Ohio High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).
Benzodiazepines are attainable through social media. They are easy to order by direct-messaging a dealer on Instagram. They are also highly addictive. Quoted on Yahoo Lifestyle, Lawrence Weinstein, M.D. chief medical officer at American Addiction Centers, said, “Benzodiazepines are one of the most commonly prescribed classes of psychoactive drugs. In the past 20 years, benzodiazepine prescriptions for adolescents have doubled. With the medication being so prevalent, it is not uncommon for a teen to either be prescribed the medication themselves, have a parent who keeps a prescription in the home, or know of someone with that prescription.”
If a teen has Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram, they have access.
Benzodiazepines are depressants that produce sedation, induce sleep, relieve anxiety, and prevent seizures. Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, and Restoril are benzo drugs.
Benzos, legally, cannot be purchased without a prescription for a pharmacy or retail store. Generally taken orally, they may be crushed and snorted when misused. They are also available in syrup and injections.
In Monitoring the Future, a 2018 study on adolescent drug use conducted by the University of Michigan, found most teens are finding these drugs through friends or family members. “Teens also access benzos for recreational use by buying from a dealer or stranger (24.8 percent), misusing existing prescriptions (9.3 percent), stealing them from friends or relatives (6.8 percent), or buying them on the internet (5.3 percent).”
“Designer benzos” have raised further concern because these counterfeit drugs are a combination of compounds. Pharmaceutical companies are creating these, and they have a similar chemical structure that produces the same effects as their legal counterparts. They are considered extremely potent and have not yet been cleared for medical use. Since these “pharmaceutical compounds have not been declared as controlled substances, they are able to be bought and sold with little if any, trouble,” says Dr. Weinstein. “There are even online communities and forums that instruct people on how to create chemical concoctions to produce the desired effects of benzos” (Liles)
Yahoo News notes that Facebook, which owns Instagram, is working to “ensure illicit drug sales do not happen on the platform.” But parents are the main deterrent in knowing what their teens are doing on social media.
This class of drugs is by no means new, but today “there’s increased availability and increased access, not just through prescriptions but through illicit sources,” said Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist, professor, and medical director of addiction medicine at Stanford University. “You’ve got this popularization of Xanax in culture and in music, and the availability (of benzodiazepines) on the dark web — all of that is part of the growing problem” (Hare).
Sgt. Mike Powell (Ret.), Drug Information Specialist with Ohio High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), says, “The last few years most every high school that Shawn (Bain) and I have lectured in reports that the Benzos are a problem in their schools. [They are] called school buses (yellow in color pills), footballs (shape of a football), green beans or Hulks (because of green color), zaney bars (long like a bar). Some will call the bar type Xanax a ladder or sidewalk because of the appearance. CDC (Center for Disease Control) reports in 2016. There were 10,684 overdose deaths up from 1135 in 1999 ” (Powell).
If parents become alert to a teen’s change of diet and sleep patterns, school performance, changes of mood, avoiding people and activities they used to enjoy, they should be curious. Benzos work similarly as alcohol on the brain.
Liles, Maryn. “Benzos Are Risng in Popularity Among Teens and They’re Getting Them on Social Media, “Parents.” Yahoo News, November 11, 2019
Hare, Breeanna, “It’s Not Just Opioids: What Doctors Want You To Know About Benzos,” CNN, October 4, 2019
Sgt. Mike Powell and Shawn Bain are the subject of the nonfiction book Becoming Street Smart, soon to be published.
Benzodiazepines, Benzos, Downward Spiral