ANTI-ANXIETY DRUGS CAN DESTROY LIVES

THE ANTI-ANXIETY DRUG ‘XANAX’ HAS A HIGH RISK OF INCREASING ANXIETY; IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE AND INCREASES THE CHANCES OF SUICIDE

Said to be more addictive than cocaine, Xanax is the anti-anxiety drug in the medicine cabinet of millions of Australian homes.

Many feel it is being over prescribed here by inexperienced doctors unaware of the drug’s dark side.

Danielle Hannan was a striking Sydney socialite. A fashion model who spoke three languages. Ten years ago a doctor prescribed Xanax for her anxiety. Now at 47, she is addicted to the drug and spends her days in a flat with her partner Charlie. Her current doctor, Dr Tanveer Ahmed, has struggled to help her with her condition for four years.

“Xanax is the most potent anti-anxiety drug on the market, a powerful version of valium that works fast,” Tanveer said.

What concerns Dr Ahmed is how powerfully addictive Xanax is. He says it’s time the Federal Government acted and Xanax was made harder to get.

Last year, more than one million prescriptions for the drug were written inAustralia.

In 1992 Daniel Politi was one of the first Australians prescribed Xanax. He was 14 at the time.

Doctors first gave him the tablets to control panic attacks but he quickly became addicted.

After marrying and gaining a solid job with Telstra, he lost it all when he couldn’t kick Xanax and the feeling the tablets gave him.

In the United States a single Xanax tablet can sell for $100 – a bottle of generic Xanax can be worth up to $30,000 on the street.

Across New York’s Long Island, chemists have been forced to install elaborate security to combat Xanax addicts.

Here is a link to the story here:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/features/article/-/14207856/xanax/