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The sources of pharmaceuticals for problematic users of benzodiazepines and prescription opioids
Author(s) -
Nielsen Suzanne,
Bruno Raimondo,
Degenhardt Louisa,
Stoove Mark A,
Fischer Jane A,
Carruthers Susan J,
Lintzeris Nicholas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja12.11331
Subject(s) - medical prescription , medicine , prescription drug misuse , benzodiazepine , intervention (counseling) , family medicine , opioid , psychiatry , pharmacology , opioid use disorder , receptor
Objectives: To describe benzodiazepine and prescription opioid use by clients of drug treatment services and the sources of pharmaceuticals they use. Design: Structured face‐to‐face interviews on unsanctioned use of benzodiazepines and prescription opioids were conducted between January and July 2008. Participants: Convenience sample of treatment entrants who reported regular (an average of ≥ 4 days per week) and unsanctioned use of benzodiazepines and/or prescription opioids over the 4 weeks before treatment entry. Setting: Drug treatment services in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. Main outcome measures: Participant demographics, characteristics of recent substance use, substance use trajectories, and sources of pharmaceuticals. Results: Two hundred and four treatment entrants were interviewed. Prescription opioids were predominantly obtained from non‐prescribed sources (78%, 84/108). In contrast, medical practitioners were the main source for benzodiazepines (78%, 113/144). Forging of prescriptions was extremely uncommon. A mean duration of 6.3 years (SD, 6.6 years) for benzodiazepines and 4.4 years (SD, 5.7 years) for prescription opioids was reported between first use and problematic use — a substantial window for intervention. Conclusions: Medical practitioners are an important source of misused pharmaceuticals, but they are not the main source of prescription opioids. This has implications for prescription drug monitoring in Australia: current plans (to monitor only Schedule 8 benzodiazepines and prescription opioids) may have limited effects on prescription opioid users who use non‐prescribed sources, and the omission of most benzodiazepines from monitoring programs may represent a lost opportunity for reducing unsanctioned use of benzodiazepines and associated harm.