Epilepsy drug in misuse alert

Phenazepam was developed in the 1970s for the treatment of epilepsy, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, insomnia and anxiety.

It is a prescription-only drug in several former Soviet Bloc countries, and is not controlled in the UK, most of Europe, or the US.

As a result, people have been buying it legally over the internet, leading to reports of misuse in the UK, Sweden, Finland and the US.

In a letter to the British Medical Journal, researchers from the University of Dundee said phenazepam was being used as a substitute for illegal drugs.

They have identified nine UK cases since January in which post-mortem blood samples contained phenazepam.

It is not known if the drug is directly responsible for any deaths.

Dr Peter Maskell, a lecturer in forensic toxicology at Dundee University, said: “This many cases suggests that the use of phenazepam by drug misusers in the UK is on the rise.

“Phenazepam can be obtained legally on the internet so it could become more widely used as a substitute for controlled benzodiazepines or designer drugs.

“It is important to note there is no evidence that people are taking more drugs as a result of the availability of phenazepam.

“Rather, it would seem it is increasingly being used as a replacement for other drugs, most notably diazepam, because we are seeing more instances of its use.

“Whether that is actually a deliberate switch on the part of users or because dealers are selling it is unclear at this stage.

“Like other benzodiazepines, phenazepam can be addictive and mixing with other drugs such as heroin or alcohol increases the risk of drug interaction.”

In 2010, three people in the East Midlands and six people in Scotland were admitted to hospital after overdosing on phenazepam.

In each of the nine most recent cases identified in Dundee, there was a history of drug misuse. All cases involved men and women aged 31 to 45.