“I love having benzos after my coke shot”: The use of psychotropic medication among cocaine users in downtown Montreal

Abstract

PM use practices showed several complementary functions that PM fulfill in a context of polydrug use. The soothing and stimulating effects of PM reinforce the patterns of drug use among participants, posing various risks including overdose, HIV/HCV transmission, PM dependence and accidents. The results highlight the need for clinicians to assess clients' substance use patterns when prescribing PM and to question PWUC about PM use. The findings also underline certain unmet service needs in relation to overdose, HIV/HCV and mental health prevention/treatment among cocaine users.

Lateral septum inhibition reduces motivation for cocaine: Reversal by diazepam

“…Human cocaine addicts will take benzodiazepines to alleviate the anxiogenic effects of cocaine withdrawal (Motta‐Ochoa et al . ). However, benzodiazepines have their own addictive properties, which make them poorly suited to treat addiction.…”

Nonmedical benzodiazepine use in adults with alcohol use disorder: The role of anxiety sensitivity and polysubstance use

“…This provides further support for the hypothesis that nonmedical benzodiazepine use often occurs as part of a broader pattern of polysubstance use. Several studies have suggested that benzodiazepines are often used to modulate the effects of other substances, such as amplifying opioid effects, reducing stimulant effects or mitigating substance withdrawal symptoms . Better understanding of the role of benzodiazepines in patterns of polysubstance use will be informative for developing novel treatment strategies for this population.…”

The epidemiology of benzodiazepine misuse: A systematic review

“…Qualitative and descriptive results indicate that coingesting benzodiazepines with alcohol increases the intoxicating effects of both substances (Calhoun et al, 1996;Dåderman and Lidberg, 1999;Perera et al, 1987). Mixing benzodiazepines with opioids (Dwyer, 2008;Gelkopf et al, 1999;Hayashi et al, 2013;Lankenau et al, 2012a;Navaratnam and Foong, 1990;Ng et al, 2007;Ross et al, 1996;Ruben and Morrison, 1992;Vogel et al, 2013) and opioid agonist medication (i.e., methadone, buprenorphine) (Gelkopf et al, 1999;Nielsen et al, 2007;Stitzer et al, 1981;Vogel et al, 2013) to enhance the effects of opioids (Dwyer, 2008;Hayashi et al, 2013;Lankenau et al, 2007;Lankenau et al, 2012b;Mateu-Gelabert et al, 2017;Motta-Ochoa et al, 2017;Navaratnam and Foong, 1990;Ng et al, 2007;Ruben and Morrison, 1992) is widespread among those with opioid use and/or injection drug use. Interestingly, one study among individuals in OUD treatment found that nearly 90% of participants who mixed benzodiazepines with other drugs did so to "improve emotional states" (Gelkopf et al, 1999).…”

“…Beyond increasing the effects of opioids and alcohol, benzodiazepines are combined with stimulants (e.g., amphetamines, cocaine) and ecstasy to "come down from" or decrease the effects of these substances (e.g., anxiety, irritation, insomnia) (Calhoun et al, 1996;Fountain et al, 1999;Gelkopf et al, 1999;Kelly et al, 2015b;Lankenau et al, 2012a;Motta-Ochoa et al, 2017;Rigg and Ibanez, 2010). Benzodiazepines are also commonly co-ingested with marijuana (Brandt et al, 2014a;Calhoun et al, 1996;McLarnon et al, 2011;Vogel et al, 2013), sometimes by smoking both substances (Calhoun et al, 1996;Kelly et al, 2015b;Lankenau et al, 2007), but little is known about motives for this combination.…”