BARBITURATE MENACE

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 21

BARBITURATE MENACE

<N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) WASHINGTON, Dec. 7. Abuse of potentially deadly bariturate drugs —taken by adults to sleep or to calm their nerves and by the young for kicks—has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, according to a Senate subcommittee report.

“It reaches into every area of American life, affecting such diverse groups as schoolchildren, college students, industrial workers, middle-class party-goers, residents of our ghettos and middle-aged adults who started using barbiturates under a physician’s supervision. . . .” The Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee concluded after an 18-month study. “Rapidly increasing barbiturate abuse presents a growing threat to the health and safety of all our citizens.” The committee issued a long two-part report of its findings, summarising hearings. research and interviews conducted from coast to coast.

“The investigation and hearings conducted by the subcommittee reveal barbiturate abuse to be both a substantial public health problem and an ever-increasing concern of law enforcement officials,” said the report. “Numerous witnesses attested to a dramatic increase in the extent of barbiturate abuse — many characterised it as an epidemic. “Epidemic patterns of abuse experienced in recent years in California are now emerging in cities and towns throughout the country.” It cited numerous "tragic stories of death and disease caused by the highly addictive drugs — including one of a month-old baby, bom to a woman addicted to secobarbital, who “failed to survive the violent convulsive consequences” of withdrawal after his birth. RECLASSIFICATION

The committee had only one main recommendation — that barbiturate drugs be reclassified under the Controlled Substances Act so they would be subjected to the far stricter controls now reserved for narcotics, including production quotas. Barbiturates are sedatives, commonly prescribed by doctors to treat insomnia, anxiety and tension. Para-

doxically, they produce an intoxication when consumed in quantity and cause violent symptoms — often leading to death — when suddenly withdrawn from an addict

Overdoses, also often fatal, are common, particularly when the drug is combined with alcohol.

Whereas most drug abuse is concentrated among the young the subcommittee found that the “classic” barbiturate abuser was between 30 and 50, and became hooked—often without his knowledge—by taking too many doctor-prescribed pills. ONE IN FOUR ADULTS An estimated one of every four adults in the United States is taking one or more of the psychotropic drugs—barbiturates, amphetamines, or tranquillisers — the committee found, thus making the family medicine chest a “spawning ground" for drug abuse by their children. “Although these (adult) chronic abusers do not fit within typical notions of the ‘drug culture’ or ‘street use’ they are very much a part of the former and it appears that they are intimately related to the latter ...” said the report. “Unfortunately, actual abuse by parents and others in a household is often

viewed as quasi-medical treatment, and apparently many of these youngsters develop similar casual, nondiscriminating drug-taking attitudes. “These children seldom understand the difference between proper medical use and abuse of these pills, The importance of the emergence of the link between overdependence on these legitimate mood-affecting drugs by adults and the current epidemic of youthful drug abusers cannot be underestimated.” SURPASSING HEROIN

The committee found that virtually all of the barbiturates being abused orginated in legitimate drug companies, filtering down to the illicit market via theft, forged prescriptions and careless handling of the drugs through the distribution chain. It said the actual number of addicts was not known, but cited estimates from the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse that as many as one million Americans were hooked on “barbs.”

The report said that with the sole exception of alcohol, the barbiturate was the most commonly abused depressant and in many areas had surpassed heroin as the most abused drug.