The rise of Valium and why it’s overrated and dangerous

MD has long been the tipple of choice for many students looking a for good time. But in this progressive age that we find ourselves in, we also find a myriad of new drugs to try to our hearts content.

Now a new competitor has joined the race.

Valium.

Valium is classified as benzodiazepine.  It is one of the most prescribed sedatives out there and five per cent of Americans have a prescription for it. It is prescribed for a variety of disorders, primarily: anxiety, alcohol withdrawal and insomnia.

Valium has many names: diazepam, benzos, Vs. amongst many others. In Edinburgh it is quite expensive: around £3 a pill. Where in other cities it is as cheap as £1 a pill.

Allegedly Valium isn’t actually that easy to get hold of as doctors are don’t like to prescribe it in the UK. Especially as in the past few years there has been a rise in people abusing it. Because of that, when dealers now can get hold of it, they run out of it very quickly and can only restock in about 1-2 days.

Valium appears to be rising in popularity and here’s why:

People say that you can take two and chill out or that it helps them to sleep after they take MD, while others claim that it gets you drunk faster as it lowers your tolerance and makes the high better.

It’s cheap and enhances the effects of other drugs. It cheaper than ket, MD or weed and people say that they have a great time on it.

However,  Valium may not be all that it is cracked up to be: the relaxed feeling that it generates is the reason why it is so addictive – if you use it regularly you can quickly develop a tolerance for it and therefore have to take more to achieve the same effects.

This is common for most drugs, but since valium changes the structure and functionality of the nerve cells of the brain when you stop taking it, the brain can no longer produce the necessary chemicals in the brain fast enough. This creates a physical dependency.

In order to compensate for the altered chemical balance users tend to use more, causing an addiction.

It is thought that breaking a Valium addiction is one of the hardest to break because of the false feeling of relaxation and joy that it creates. People become desperate for this high.

While there are some serious down sides to Valium there must be a very good reason why it has become so popular. From the variety of people that I have talked to who have tried Valium their main reason for using it is “I was bored”.

It gives people the relaxed feeling that everyone wants. It reflects more on the lifestyle of students and the pressures that are put on us more than on the character or interests of the people who use.