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In medicine, tranquillisers are used to treat anxiety and insomnia.

They come as tablets, capsules, injections or suppositories (tablets inserted up the bum); and come in a wide variety of colours. On average a 10mg diazepam pill costs £1.

In the club scene, tranquillisers are often used as chill-out drugs. Some people use them to help come down off acid, cocaine, speed or ecstasy after a big night out.

What are the effects of tranquilisers?

Tranquillisers are prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia. Because of concerns about their addictiveness, they are mainly recommended only to be used in such cases for short-term use and when the problems are severe. They are also sometimes used to control epileptic fits and to treat alcohol withdrawals.

They have a number of effects:

• They depress the nervous system, which slows the brain and body down.
• They make the user feel calm and relaxed and can help people get to sleep.
• They suppress fits.
• Some cause short-term memory loss.
• Big doses can make a user forgetful and make them overly sleepy.

What are the risks of tranquilisers?

Using tranquillisers can be risky, and especially dangerous if you mix them with other depressant drugs like heroin or alcohol.

Here’s what tranquillisers can do to you:

• Some have been shown to cause short-term memory loss and big doses can make a user forgetful and make them overly sleepy.
• They can be highly addictive, and so are mainly recommended only for short-term use in medicine.
• People who are addicted to tranquillisers can experience nasty withdrawal symptoms, which can include decreased concentration, tremors, nausea, vomiting, headaches, anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Very uncomfortable bodily sensations can also develop; and fits can occur, which in severe cases can be fatal.
• Sudden withdrawal after big doses or from some specific drugs can cause panic attacks and fits.
• Some people crush or melt tranquillisers that come as tablets or capsules, so that they can be injected. This is extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal. The chalk in the tablets is a major cause of collapsed veins which can lead to infection and abscess. Injecting gel capsules can also be fatal when the gel solidifies inside the blood vessels.
• There are concerns that tranquillisers have been used in sex crimes, where a victim’s drink is spiked with a tranquilliser, for example Rohypnol, making them very drowsy or knocking them out so they’re either unaware of or unable to prevent a sexual assault.

Most tranquillisers that are available on the street are either stolen from a hospital or pharmacy or from people who got them on a prescription. They might have also been imported from abroad. You cannot normally be sure of the purity unless you are certain that the drug you have is a genuine pharmacy medicine.

Can you get addicted to tranquillisers?

Tranquillisers can cause psychological and physical addiction and, because tolerance increases over time, users may have to keep increasing their dose either to get the same hit, or just to maintain the initial positive medical effect on their anxiety or insomnia. It is because of the risk of dependence that tranquillisers are recommended normally only to be used for short periods of time and only for severe cases.

Withdrawal can cause unpleasant symptoms like a pounding headache, nausea, anxiety and confusion. Some people report withdrawal symptoms after only four weeks’ use. These can be dangerous and require medical help. If you, or a friend, has a problem with tranquillisers and want to stop using, you should talk to your GP for help and support or contact your local recovery community.

The other type of tranquillisers, the ‘major’ tranquillisers (antipsychotics) are not addictive.

Tranquillisers and the law

• Tranquillisers are controlled under Class C of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
• Unauthorised possession (i.e. without a prescription) could result in a prison sentence of up to 2 years and an unlimited fine.
• Supplying, which includes giving some to your friends, could mean up to 14 years in prison and an unlimited fine

Did you know?

• A conviction for a drug-related offence could have a serious impact. It can stop you visiting certain countries – for example the United States – and limit the types of jobs you can apply for.
• Like drinking and driving, driving while impaired by drugs is illegal. You can get a heavy fine, be disqualified from driving or even go to prison. Because tranquillisers can impair judgement and reaction time it is recommended that people do not drive or operate heavy machinery were they are taking them.