§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently estimated to be addicted to the benzodiazepine group of drugs; and what estimate of the incidence of dependence was made by the Committee on the Review of Medicines in its 1980 review of the benzodiazepines.
§ Mr. NewtonThere are no precise figures to show the level or trend in benzodiazepine dependence but it was estimated in a report published in the Adverse Reaction Bulletin of June 1986 that perhaps half a million people in the United Kingdom were dependent on benzodiazepines. I have placed a copy in the Library. A report "Systematic Review of Benzodiazepines" by the Committee on Review of Medicines published in theBritish Medical Journal on the 29 March 1980, stated:
the number dependent on benzodiazepines in the United Kingdom from 1960 to 1977 has been estimated to be 28 persons. This is equivalent to a dependence rate of 5–10 cases per million patient months".