§ Mr. SpellerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made as to how many adults in the United Kingdom are addicted to tranquillisers; and how many of these are prescribed for them within the National Health Service.
§ Mrs. CurrieThere are no precise figures to show the level or trend in benzodiazepine dependence, but it was estimated in a report published in theAdverse Reaction Bulletin of June 1986 that perhaps half a million people in the United Kingdom were dependent on benzodiazepines. A copy of the report is in the Library.
Information on how many of those dependent on benzodiazepines receive their prescriptions under the National Health Service is not available. However 25.5 million prescriptions for benzodiazepines were dispensed by community pharmacists in Great Britain in 1987.
Recent studies show that about 70 per cent. of hypnotic benzodiazepines (those to treat insomnia) are prescribed to women, and about 40 per cent. of these to women over 65.