Observations placeholder

Diazepam  first marketed as Valium  is a benzodiazepine drug. It is also marketed as Antenex. It was the top-selling pharmaceutical in the United States from 1969 to 1982, with peak sales in 1978 of 2.3 billion tablets.

Uses - It is commonly used for treating anxiety, insomnia, seizures including status epilepticus, muscle spasms (such as in cases of tetanus), restless legs syndrome, alcohol withdrawal, benzodiazepine withdrawal and Ménière's disease. It may also be used before certain medical procedures (such as endoscopies) to reduce tension and anxiety, and in some surgical procedures to induce amnesia. 

Addiction and abuse - Diazepam is a drug of ‘potential abuse’ and can cause serious problems of addiction and as a result is scheduled. In the overall scheme of things, the most commonly abused benzodiazepine is alprazolam, clonazepam is the second,  Lorazepam is the third, and diazepam the fourth in the USA.  This said, its potential as a drug of abuse is much higher essentially because it is so fast acting.  When Diazepam is administered orally, it is rapidly absorbed and has a fast onset of action. The bioavailability after oral administration is 100 percent. Peak plasma levels occur between 30 minutes and 90 minutes after oral administration.  The onset of action is 1–5 minutes for IV administration and 15–30 minutes for IM administration. The duration of diazepam's peak pharmacological effects is 15 minutes to 1 hour for both routes of administration. Peak plasma levels occur between 30 minutes and 60 minutes after intramuscular administration. Diazepam is highly protein bound with 96 to 99 percent of the absorbed drug being protein bound. The distribution half-life of diazepam is 2 minutes to 13 minutes.

A single dose of diazepam modulates the body’s system in similar ways to how morphine and alcohol modulate the dopaminergic pathways.  It does the same thing to animals  - ”Between 50 and 64% of rats will self administer diazepam”.Diazepam has also been found as an adulterant in heroin.  Diazepam drug misuse can occur either through recreational misuse where the drug is taken to achieve a high or when the drug is continued long term against medical advice.

Diazepam is a Schedule IV controlled drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances

Side effects and withdrawal symptoms - All the side effect and withdrawal symptoms you see with the other benzodiazepines are experienced with diazepam.