Prescription Drugs

The most commonly used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes are benzodiazepines (sometimes called benzos) and opioids (oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine and codeine) [40728]. Benzodiazepines (such as Diazepam or Valium) are drugs that are usually prescribed by a doctor to calm people down or help people sleep. Prescription opioids are usually prescribed for pain relief. Other prescription drugs used for non-medical purposes include stimulants like dexamphetamine [40728].

Long term use of prescription drugs can lead to physical and psychological dependence (addiction) and other harms including overdose [23503]. Some of the harms from regular use of prescription drugs include:

• sleep problems
• hormonal changes
• dental decay (due to dry mouth caused by opioid use)
• increased anxiety
• seizures – if a person suddenly stops taking a prescription drug such as a benzodiazepine.

There are treatment options available for people who are dependent on prescription drugs [23503]. This treatment usually involves some kind of counselling and support. Medically supervised withdrawal may be needed for people who are dependent on benzodiazepines [36693]. For opioid addiction, opioid agonist treatment provides long term, structured support to reduce harms from opioid dependence [35303]. The type of treatment and support offered will depend on the needs of the person and where they are in their treatment journey [35303]. For more information on opioid agonist treatment see also the section on Pharmacotherapies in the Harm Reduction Portal