Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Oct 1989
Case ReportsThe identification and management of drug-seeking behavior in a medical center.
We describe the development of a quality assurance program that monitors prescription medication misuse in a medical setting. The program focuses on patient activities that influence physician prescribing of abusable medications. ⋯ When appropriate, a drug-seeking label is attached to the patient's chart and the hospital computer information system. The warning informs the physician and protects the patient from excessive medications.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Dec 1988
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialRelative abuse liability of lorazepam and diazepam: an evaluation in 'recreational' drug users.
The subjective, psychomotor and cognitive effects of oral doses of lorazepam (0, 1.5, 3 and 6 mg) and diazepam (0, 10, 20 and 40 mg) were studied under double-blind conditions in 14 volunteers with histories of 'recreational' benzodiazepine use/abuse. For each subject, drug was administered over 4 test days in a 2 (drug) by 4 (dose level) mixed design. Drug was the between-groups factor while dose was the within-subjects factor. ⋯ The results showed that subjective ratings of drug 'liking' and the psychomotor and cognitive effects of lorazepam were generally similar to those of diazepam over the range of doses studied. Lorazepam, however, tended to produce effects of longer duration than diazepam. Since previous studies have shown that diazepam has a relatively high abuse liability among the benzodiazepines, the present findings suggest that lorazepam shares this property with diazepam is subjects with a history of 'recreational' drug use/abuse.