Valium addictive in the same way as heroin

By Lucy Halfhead  on Thursday 11 February 2010

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A popular form of anxiety drugs use the same potentially addictive 'reward pathways' in the brain as heroin and cannabis, scientists have warned.

Researchers from Switzerland and the U.S found drugs such as Valium and Xanax exert a calming effect by boosting the action of a neurotransmitter.

This in turn activates the gratification hormone, dopamine, in the brain - the same 'reward pathway' activated by some illegal drugs.

The findings help explain why people get hooked on the drug, and will hopefully assist in developing a next generation of non-addictive anti-anxiety drugs they said.

Valium, known generically as diazepam, is the best known of the benzodiazepine class of drugs, and is prescribed on the NHS. It and Ativan were among a host of other prescription drugs found in the blood of American pop star Michael Jackson when he died in June last year.

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Thursday 11 February 2010

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