Xanax, Valium and other benzodiazepines are contributing to more than a third of all accidental overdose deaths, making them the second most deadly drug after opioids.
Anti-anxiety medications are fast becoming one of the leading contributors to overdoses and are involved in more accidental deaths than alcohol, heroin or cocaine.
Less than one per cent of all deaths were due to benzodiazepines alone. But they are the type most commonly found in deaths involving multiple drugs, frequently combined with anticonvulsants, methadone, anti-psychotics and pharmaceutical opioids. 1.4 million Australians were prescribed 5.1 million scripts of benzodiazepines in 2020-21, with Ryan warning an overstretched health system meant doctors were not discussing the dangers of combining the drug with other substances with patients.
Dependency was a major issue, she said, while severe withdrawal effects meant long-term users had to be slowly transitioned off the medication. There have been 37,000 drug-induced deaths since 2001, the Penington Institute found, with 2231 deaths in 2021 though this figure is projected to rise to 2358 as data is finalised and coronial findings are handed down.
Indigenous Australians are more than three times more likely to die from an accidental overdose than non-Indigenous Australians, while males accounted for seven in 10 unintentional drug-induced deaths in 2021.Despite a raft of regulatory measures to limit availability, opioids still remain the number one killer for accidental overdoses, accounting for nearly half of all deaths.“The data shows we’re failing to address a very significant health problem.
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The common medication involved in killing more Australians than alcoholXanax, Valium and other benzodiazepines are contributing to more than a third of all accidental overdose deaths, making them the second most deadly drug after opioids.
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