Letter
Benzodiazepine misuse
Phenazepam is currently being misused in the UK
Cite this as:
BMJ
2011;343:d4207
- Drugs: musculoskeletal and joint diseases
- Alcohol-related disorders
- Drug misuse (including addiction)
- Drugs misuse (including addiction)
- Unwanted effects / adverse reactions
- Stroke
- Epilepsy and seizures
- Health education
- Health promotion
- Research and publication ethics
- Screening (epidemiology)
- Screening (public health)
- Sleep disorders
- Sleep disorders (neurology)
- Sleep disorders (respiratory medicine)
More topics 
Fewer topics
- Peter D Maskell, lecturer in forensic toxicology1,
- Giorgia De Paoli, lecturer in forensic toxicology1,
- L Nitin Seetohul, lecturer in forensic toxicology1,
- Derrick J Pounder, professor of forensic medicine1
- 1Centre for Forensic and Legal Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK
- p.d.maskell{at}dundee.ac.uk
Phenazepam is a benzodiazepine not currently controlled in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, or the United States. Developed in the 1970s for the treatment of epilepsy, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, insomnia, and anxiety,1 2 it is currently prescribed only in the former Soviet Bloc.
However, recent reports from Sweden, Finland, and the …
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