It is currently used in India, Italy, Japan and Korea for the short-term treatment of insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks, but it is not approved for medical use elsewhere 55,71. The only death reported involved a young man with a history of methamphetamine use found deceased at home. In the third ED admission, diclazepam was the sole drug reported.

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Studies show that individuals who complete both medical detox and behavioral therapy have a 60–70% higher chance of maintaining long-term sobriety compared to those who attempt withdrawal alone. Breaking free from Clonazolam addiction requires professional help and a carefully managed treatment plan. The sedative effects can last 12 to 20 hours, and users may not remember taking it — leading to repeated doses and accidental overdose. Clonazolam addiction is particularly dangerous because of the drug’s long half-life and high potency. Like other benzodiazepines, Clonazolam alters the brain’s chemical balance, creating dependency quickly.

So, it is better to avoid these medicines and alcohol while consuming clonazolam. Clonazolam is a highly potent drug with a narrow therapeutic window, and a higher dose can cause severe sedation and coma. Withdrawal symptoms from benzodiazepines are severe, involving symptoms such as abdominal cramps, anxiety, sweating, tremors, blurred vision, loss of concentration, confusion, and dizziness. High doses of GABAergics, including clonazolam, can cause intoxicating effects similar to alcohol or GHB, as well as memory loss and disinhibition. Clonazolam, which is a derivative of clonazepam and alprazolam, works like other benzodiazepines. Our True Stories of Addiction video series showcases real people who have overcome devastating addictions and built new lives filled with purpose and hope.

Less common

Your healthcare provider will tell you how to stop clonazepam to reduce the risk of withdrawal reactions. Clonazolam abuse and addiction can lead to physical dependence, withdrawal seizures, and other dangers that require professional treatment. Because clonazolam withdrawal is so intense, many people will go back to taking the drug rather than go through it. Of sixty deaths reported, phenazepam alone was listed as the sole cause of death in two cases, while the remaining were attributed to accidental overdose due to polydrug toxicity. In 33 cases the cause of death was reported as accidental overdose due to polydrug toxicity; subjects were known drug users or had a history of mental disorders. In 49 reports 3-hydroxyphenazepam, adinazolam, clonazolam, etizolam, deschloroetizolam, diclazepam, flualprazolam, flubromazepam, flubromazolam, meclonazepam, phenazepam and pyrazolam were the sole or explicit contributory cause of poisoning, driving-impairment and death.

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The first reported adinazolam-related death concerned a young woman found dead in her apartment next to five resealable bags with unidentified powders/crystals. Clinical studies revealed that drowsiness and dizziness are commonly observed after oral administration of adinazolam up to 70 mg, resulting in significant amnestic and psychomotor effects at higher doses 123,124,125. Age, sex, observations (i.e., symptoms, death scene information etc.), detected concentrations in biological matrices and co-exposure concentrations are also displayed. Users generally are unaware of the presence of contaminants in a product, resulting in an increasing number of adverse health events for DBZD, including emergency room admissions and death investigations 67,68,69. The misuse of DBDZ in conjunction with other drug use is a growing and widespread world health and safety concern 47,57,58. Slight alterations of the BZD core at different positions generated a large number of designer compounds, mainly 1,4-benzodiazepines, triazolobenzodiazepines and thienotriazolodiazepines.

Clonazolam exists in a legal gray area in many places, as it was never approved for medical use and is often classified as a designer benzodiazepine. It is often sold illicitly in unregulated doses, increasing overdose risk. Users report deep sedation, memory loss, and blackouts even at low doses, making it significantly more dangerous. A designer benzodiazepine with no recognized medical use. Regular use can quickly lead to tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal symptoms that can be severe or even life-threatening. It can cause deep sedation, memory blackouts, and impaired motor function even at low doses.

According to NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), benzodiazepines like Clonazolam are involved in over 12,000 overdose deaths per year, often in combination with opioids. This guide explores the dangers of Clonazolam, how addiction develops, and what effective clonazolam abuse treatment looks like for those ready to take their first step toward recovery. Clonazolam addiction can take hold after just a few uses, causing extreme sedation, blackouts, memory loss, and life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Using this medicine during the later pregnancy may cause problems in your newborn baby (eg, sedation or withdrawal symptoms).

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  • If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember.
  • Clonazolam is not approved by the FDA for clinical use and is classified as a Schedule I drug with the potential for abuse in certain states.
  • Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects.
  • Clonazolam was not confirmed, and the dose was estimated based on the patient’s self-report.
  • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Clonazolam is up to 2.5 times stronger than alprazolam (Xanax) and has been found in hundreds of overdose deaths since 2016.
  • Talk to your healthcare provider about your risks if you are in this age group.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Clonazolam is up to 2.5 times stronger than alprazolam (Xanax) and has been found in hundreds of overdose deaths since 2016. Clonazolam might be one of the most powerful and dangerous designer benzodiazepines ever created. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects.

Either employers end up having to quiz legitimate benzodiazepine patients, with the privacy issues that involves, or they end up letting the addict through. This makes it impossible to truly detect clonazolam in screenings. Slurred speech and trouble walking have also been reported. Clonazolam can cause both physical and mental side effects that can last for a few hours. Snorting clonazolam tends to cause extended, often multiple day blackouts.

Caution: Clonazolam is Very Potent

Due to the high abuse potential and life-threating consequences of DBZD use, between 2020 and 2021 clonazolam, diclazepam, etizolam, flualprazolam and flubromazolam were listed in Schedule IV of the Convention of Psychotropic Substances of 1971 . In 2020 amid shortages of classic drugs of abuse following COVID-19 restrictions, some drug users shifted from prescription sedatives to DBZD and novel synthetic opioids (NSO) 63,64,65,66. They are not strictly considered DBZD since they are approved for medical use in certain countries, but they have been implicated in several drug-related deaths in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2013 39,47. These substances are illegally manufactured, sometimes mimic legal medicines’ appearance, and are purchased inexpensively on the underground drug market through online platforms that facilitate anonymous trading and bypass regulatory systems 45,46. Compared with classical BZD, these compounds produce strong sedation and amnesia, and they increase the risk of respiratory depression and death when used in combination with other CNS depressants 41,42. High BZD doses in combination with opioids or other CNS depressants increase the risk of death by suppression of medullary respiratory centers 27,28,29.

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Make sure you know how you react to this medicine before you drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous if you are not alert or able to think or see well. This medicine may cause drowsiness, trouble with thinking, trouble with controlling movements, or trouble with seeing clearly. If you think you have become pregnant while using the medicine, tell your doctor right away. Blood tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects. Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and what is clonazolam direct light.

Due to this considerable risk of abuse, in February 1984, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs placed 33 commercially available BZD under Schedule IV of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances 19,20,21,22,23. Due to controlled neuronal inhibition and lower CNS depression risk, BZD rapidly replaced older medications such as barbiturates, meprobamate and chloral hydrate, becoming the most prescribed drug class in the world during the 1970s 11,12. Between 2019 and April 2020, DBZD were identified in 48% and 83% of postmortem and DUID cases reported to the UNODC, respectively, with flualprazolam, flubromazolam and etizolam as the most frequently detected substances. Etizolam, flualprazolam flubromazolam and phenazepam were implicated in the majority of adverse-events, drug offenses and deaths. In response, DBZD are continuously modified to avoid legal sanctions and drug seizures and generally to increase the abuse potential of the DBZD. The rising use of designer benzodiazepines (DBZD) is a cat-and-mouse game between organized crime and law enforcement.

The most commonly abused benzodiazepine medications are , , Ativan, and Klonopin. This is part of what makes the abuse of this substance so dangerous, as people lose track of time and behave in atypical ways. It is a highly potent substance that can cause sedation and amnesia even in small doses. One of the benzodiazepine medications that is not approved for medicinal use is called clonazolam (triazolobenzodiazepine). Benzodiazepines are a class of drugs primarily used to treat anxiety and seizures. Instead, the drug is temporarily replaced with another benzodiazepine, typically Valium, and then the dosage is reduced over time.

These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below.

WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Does interact with other drugs you are taking? The risk of serious problems such as severe dizziness, sleepiness, and trouble breathing may be increased if you drink alcohol while taking clonazepam. Your healthcare provider will advise you if you should take clonazepam while breastfeeding.

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In the other four cases, clonazolam or clonazolam and etizolam (one case) were identified. Clonazolam is described as “insanely powerful”, producing strong sedation and amnesia at oral doses as low as 0.5 mg, resulting in easy accidental overdose . 6-(2-Chlorophenyl)-1-methyl-8-nitro-4H-1,2,4triazolo4,3-a1,4benzodiazepine, also known as clonitrazolam, is the triazolo-analogue of clonazepam 1,129.

  • It is illegal to sell or give away this medicine.
  • Understanding its dangers, effects, and treatment options is critical as more people fall into its grip.
  • Clonazolam, which is a derivative of clonazepam and alprazolam, works like other benzodiazepines.

Two patients were admitted to ED after consuming clonazolam bought on the Internet. It was found for the first time in seized yellow capsules by Swedish police on October 2014 and reported to the EMCDDA on January 2015 . Adinazolam was identified in postmortem blood samples but was neither quantified nor listed as the cause of death. In the US, since April 2020, adinazolam was identified in at least three toxicology cases in association with etizolam, fentanyl and flualprazolam . Adinazolam was never FDA approved and never introduced onto the public market; however, it started to emerge as an illegal designer drug in 2015 126,127. Most patients and victims were young individuals of both sexes, often with a previous history of substance abuse and mental illness.

Both pill and liquid Clonazolam are highly risky, but the liquid form may be even more dangerous due to its rapid onset and unpredictable dosing. Even in states where it is not yet scheduled, possession of Clonazolam can lead to legal consequences under analog drug laws. In the U.S., Clonazolam is not approved for medical use and is often sold illicitly. Extremely potent, with effects much stronger than Clonazepam.