China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Designer Benzodiazepines
Published in Ornella Corazza, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, Handbook of Novel Psychoactive Substances, 2018
Peter D. Maskell, Nathan E. Wilson
The rise of designer benzodiazepines or NPS benzodiazepines was initially limited to an abuse of prescription drugs that were available only in parts of the world, phenazepam (Russia) and etizolam (Japan) being the first (Manchester et al., 2017). The lack of control under many countries’ legislation at that time allowed the avoidance of drug legislation and any related legal penalties. This was reinforced by the fact that often these products were marketed as ‘not for human consumption’ and also not marketed or sold as medications/medicine to circumvent legislation. This made them more attractive to users and suppliers. The development of new NPS benzodiazepines to avoid legislation was made easier because of the large drug libraries, published literature, and patents of the various drug companies. The synthesis and development of new benzodiazepines in the 1960s through the 1990s led to an estimated 3,000 (or more) benzodiazepines (Anon n.d.), allowing a wide variety of ‘new’ compounds to be produced as NPS. The first NPS benzodiazepine to appear on the market that was not a prescription drug was pyrazolam in 2012 (Anon, 2012). This compound was patented in 1979 (Manchester et al., 2017). Since then, to date, a further 21 benzodiazepines have been detected by drug early warning systems in Europe and around the world (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2017), and it is expected that these will not be the last of the NPS benzodiazepines that will emerge. Legislation around the world has attempted to stop the ‘cat and mouse’ of NPS with the Novel Psychoactive Substances Act (2016) in the UK, making it illegal to supply or import a drug that is ‘psychoactive’, and the Psychoactive Substances Act (2013) in New Zealand in which the seller of any ‘psychoactive substance’ must prove it is ‘low risk’ before being able to sell it. The long-term impact of this legislation is yet to be seen and may be difficult to interpret because of the change in how these drugs are sourced by users, particularly with the move ‘underground’. In 2011, the ‘silk road’ was set up on the dark net, where users and vendors were able to use the Internet to buy and sell NPS but remain anonymous, as their IP addresses are hidden. The development of crypto currencies, such as bitcoin, also allow users to pay for the NPS anonymously, increasing the problems for law enforcement agencies. The problem of dark net sales is illustrated by the 2017 global drug survey that found of the people in the countries that responded to the survey, between 1.4% (Iceland) and 41.4% (Finland) of people obtained drugs from the dark net. The hot spots for purchase of drugs on the dark net are Europe and the USA (Winstock, Barratt, Ferris, & Maier, 2017). This increases the problem of determining the use and abuse of NPS but also controlling the problem of NPS abuse.
Designer benzodiazepines: an update
Published in Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 2023
Xiao Yu, H Karl Greenblatt, David J Greenblatt
Controlled data on the clinical pharmacologic effects of DBs is scarce. Currently available data indicates that DBs have similar or identical properties compared to full agonist benzodiazepines currently approved for clinical use. These include anxiolytic, sedative, hypnotic, and possibly muscle relaxant effects, all of which are well-recognized [3,4,7–12]. Comparability of doses is an essential factor in the evaluation of clinical properties. In a study of a single individual, minimal differences were observed between 1 mg pyrazolam and 1 mg diclazepam, whereas 4 mg of flubromazepam produced fatigue and drowsiness [37,40,56,57]. In a report of DBs allegedly involved in drug-facilitated sexual assault, clonazolam, flubromazolam, diclazepam, and flubromazepam appeared to be the most potent DBs in terms of sedation, amnesia, and disinhibition [37,45]. None of these reports describe adequately controlled studies, and differences (if any) among DBs in clinical outcomes are likely attributable to noncomparable doses.
Occurrence and time course of NPS benzodiazepines in Sweden – results from intoxication cases in the STRIDA project
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2019
Matilda Bäckberg, Madeleine Pettersson Bergstrand, Olof Beck, Anders Helander
The NPS BZD covered in this study (Figure 2) were adinazolam, bentazepam, clonazolam, cloniprazepam, diclazepam, deschloroetizolam, flubromazolam, flunitrazolam, 3-hydroxyflubromazepam, ketazolam, meclonazepam, metizolam, nifoxipam, nitrazolam, pivoxazepam, and pyrazolam (1 mg/mL solutions from Chiron, Trondheim, Norway), bromazepam, clobazam, etizolam, estazolam, flurazepam, 3-hydroxyphenazepam, N-desmethylflunitrazepam, nimetazepam, phenazepam, and prazepam (1 mg/mL solutions from Cerilliant, Round Rock, TX), flubromazepam (1 mg/mL solution from LGC, Teddington, UK), and tetrazepam (0.1 mg/mL solution from LGC). All solutes were obtained in acetonitrile or methanol.
Designer benzodiazepines: a report of exposures recorded in the National Poison Data System, 2014–2017
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2019
Joseph E. Carpenter, Brian Patrick Murray, Camille Dunkley, Ziad N. Kazzi, Melissa H. Gittinger
The term “designer benzodiazepine” is actually a bit of a misnomer, as the class includes benzodiazepine relatives and derivatives, namely thienodiazepines, triazolobenzodiazepines, and thienotriazolodiazepines (Figure 1) [8]. Notable members of this drug family include clonazolam, diclazepam, flubromazepam, flubromazolam, and pyrazolam [9]. None of these chemicals are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for therapeutic use. Another benzodiazepine relative, etizolam, is approved for therapeutic use in some countries, but remains unapproved in the United States and has been reported to be a drug of abuse alongside other more novel agents [9,10].