DOSE:

oral

Pharmaceuticals

BODY WEIGHT:

200 lb

Recently I've noticed a trend among the drug using population. Many people are now experimenting with a class of pharmaceutical drugs called benzodiazepines. The benzos are intended to be used for diagnosed anxiety disorders, imsomnia, and seizures. They can lower respiration, blood pressure, and even induce coma or death. Without much knowledge of the effects of these depressant drugs, many users are succumbing to serious overdoses.

I have experimented personally with all of the benzodiazepines currently available. Although due to slight chemical differences, there are different dosing schedules and duration of action, the active effects of all of them are quite similar. At low to threshold doses they produce a state of relaxation and lessened anxiety. This is what I consider the 'fun' level. .5-2mg of xanax/ativan/klonopin/halcion or 5-20mg of valium/dalmane/librium will get most people here. The effects can be compounded by simultaneous use of alchohol, which, in my opinion, is very dangerous when any benzo is being used. Moderate to high doses cause extreme lessening of inhibitions, disorientation, difficulty staying awake, loss of balance, and amnesia of the events that occured while intoxicated. These are the 6-8mg xanax (etc.), 30-50mg valium(etc.) dosages. At this level even considering driving is stupid because I may fall into a deep sleep quite unexpectedly. I know people and I have experienced myself amnesia at moderate levels, this is NOT fun as you may 'wake up' in a strange environment wondering where the hell your car is and how you got where you are.

High doses of benzos are extremely dangerous. Although individual tolerance increases rapidly, this lures the user into higher and more unpredictable states. 10mg< of xanax(etc.) and 60mg< of valium (etc.) are high/dangerous doses. At this stage, complete amnesia of the events during intoxication may occur. One may fall into a deep deep sleep (personally I’ve slept/passed out in upwards of 24-36 hrs) or if one isn't lucky a coma or death by cardiac or respiratory failure may occur. A friend of mine was comatose for three days following a 24mg dose of xanax. In conclusion, be careful with the benzos. At a low dose they can be beneficial in a party setting or if you are having trouble falling asleep due to insomnia (drug induced or otherwise), but at higher doses they lead to dangerous situations and physical/ mental dependence. Continued usage can lead to addiction. (although this has not been the case with me, I know many people who are daily users by addiction).

Exp Year: 1999	ExpID: 5458
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 16, 2002	Views: 13,687
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Pharmaceuticals (73) : Not Applicable (38), Retrospective / Summary (11)