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Misusing sedatives or tranquilizers signals a credible risk for the abuse of more addictive substances in the near future, according to new research from the University of Michigan School of Nursing’s Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health.
“Once you start using a potentially addictive medicine illegally, you’re at a substantially higher risk of using other substances, and this raises the risk of addiction,” said lead author Carol Boyd, professor of nursing and women’s studies.
“We have seen this phenomenon with the opioid analgesic epidemic, and now we see similar risks with prescribed sedatives and tranquilizers. Tranquilizer and sedative prescriptions have increased in the U.S. and this study shows some of the consequences.”
Boyd and her U-M colleagues, Sean Esteban McCabe and Brady West, examined national data from nearly 35,000 American adults, first during a one-year period referred to as Wave One.
They began by looking at how many people were misusing sedatives, such as sleeping pills, or…
