Tranquillisers

AKA

Downers, sleeping pills, tranx, chill pills, benzos, benzodiazepines, Mogadon, moggies, Temazepam, jellies, mazzies, temazies, jelly babies, green eggs, rugby balls, tems, Valium, Ativan, barbiturates, barbs

Tranquillisers factoid About one in seven people in the UK are prescribed tranquillisers sometime each year. 1 in 40 people take them all the year and are dependent.
(Drugscope)

What is it?

Tranquillisers are manmade drugs. They are used medically to treat anxiety, epilepsy and sleeplessness. They are normally swallowed.

How does it make you feel?

Tranquillisers like Valium and Ativan make you slow down, relax and chill. You might yawn a lot and feel drowsy. Sleeping pills, like Temazepam, are a bit stronger but tend to wear off more quickly.

Barbiturates or barbs were popular in the 70s and 80s. They became known as downers as they were often used to ease down from tripping or speeding. Barbs were very easy to overdose on and are now rare. People use the milder modern tranquillisers in the same way.

What are the health effects?

Tranquillisers are a difficult habit to break. If you take them regularly you will develop a tolerance to them so that you need more to get the same effect. Withdrawal symptoms are pretty nasty. People get anxious, sick, sleepless, restless, grouchy and headachey. Occasionally people have epileptic fits when they come off.

You can overdose on them especially if you are using them with alcohol.

A number of people have died after injecting Temazepam. This is a really risky thing to do as it is hard to get the dose right.

The law

Tranquillisers are prescription-only drugs. Without prescription they are treated as illegal Class C drugs. The maximum penalty for possession is 2 years in prison and 14 for supply. You can get an unlimited fine for both.

Barbiturates are illegal Class B drugs. The maximum penalty for possession is 5 years in prison and 14 for supply. You can get an unlimited fine for both

Written by Kate Roach

Last updated July 2007

Further help and advice

Drugscope entry on tranquillisers
Drugscope entry on barbiturates
TheSite.org entry on Tranquillisers
TheSite.org entry on barbiturates

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