The increase in benzodiazepine-laced drugs and related risks in Canada: The urgent need for effective and sustainable solutions

TY - JOUR

T1 - The increase in benzodiazepine-laced drugs and related risks in Canada: The urgent need for effective and sustainable solutions

AU - Russell, Cayley

AU - Law, Justine

AU - Bonn, Matthew

AU - Rehm, Jürgen

AU - Ali, Farihah

N1 - Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

N2 - The overdose crisis in Canada has continuously evolved and is increasingly challenging to contain, while efforts from governments and policymakers to address it have often fallen short and resulted in unintended consequences. One of the main repercussions has been an unprecedented rise in adulterants in the illegal drug supply, including a wide array of pharmacological and psychoactive compounds and chemicals, which has resulted in a progressively toxic drug supply. Most recently, there has been a stark increase in synthetic benzodiazepine-laced opioids (i.e., 'benzodope') in some Canadian jurisdictions. This unique combination carries distinct and amplified risks for people who use drugs including fatal and non-fatal overdoses, increased dependence and withdrawal symptoms, and places them in extremely vulnerable positions. The emergence of benzodiazepines within the illicit drug supply has substantially contributed to drug-related morbidity and mortality in Canada, and has further complicated current public health initiatives and overdose prevention efforts. This reality underscores the need for effective and sustainable policy solutions to address the evolving overdose epidemic including increased knowledge and education on the specific harms of opioid and benzodiazepine co-use (especially in regards to the complexity of opioid/benzodiazepine overdoses), scaling-up harm reduction measures, and eliminating the toxic drug supply altogether.

AB - The overdose crisis in Canada has continuously evolved and is increasingly challenging to contain, while efforts from governments and policymakers to address it have often fallen short and resulted in unintended consequences. One of the main repercussions has been an unprecedented rise in adulterants in the illegal drug supply, including a wide array of pharmacological and psychoactive compounds and chemicals, which has resulted in a progressively toxic drug supply. Most recently, there has been a stark increase in synthetic benzodiazepine-laced opioids (i.e., 'benzodope') in some Canadian jurisdictions. This unique combination carries distinct and amplified risks for people who use drugs including fatal and non-fatal overdoses, increased dependence and withdrawal symptoms, and places them in extremely vulnerable positions. The emergence of benzodiazepines within the illicit drug supply has substantially contributed to drug-related morbidity and mortality in Canada, and has further complicated current public health initiatives and overdose prevention efforts. This reality underscores the need for effective and sustainable policy solutions to address the evolving overdose epidemic including increased knowledge and education on the specific harms of opioid and benzodiazepine co-use (especially in regards to the complexity of opioid/benzodiazepine overdoses), scaling-up harm reduction measures, and eliminating the toxic drug supply altogether.

KW - Humans

KW - Analgesics, Opioid

KW - Canada/epidemiology

KW - Benzodiazepines/adverse effects

KW - Drug Overdose/epidemiology

KW - Risk

KW - Illicit Drugs

U2 - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103933

DO - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103933

M3 - Comment/debate

C2 - 36529033

VL - 111

SP - 103933

JO - INT J DRUG POLICY

JF - INT J DRUG POLICY

SN - 0955-3959

ER -