GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Researchers have found that more Americans are taking drugs like Xanax and Valium, and taking those drugs at higher dosages. They’ve also found that, while the number of prescriptions filled between 1996 and 2013 have tripled, the amount of overdoses quadrupled.
These drugs belong to a class of medications known as benzodiazepines, or “benzos.” They are commonly used to treat anxiety, mood disorders and insomnia. They’re also known to be highly additive.
In 2013, nearly a third of the 23,000 people who died from prescription overdoses were taking benzos. Researchers still don’t know why overdoses went up so much, but they believe it may involve people taking those drugs for longer periods of time and, in turn, raising the odds of overdosing.
