Benzodiazepine - The Law
The Law
"The nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs remains a serious public health concern," wrote the NIDA director in his introduction to "Prescription Drugs: Abuse and Addiction." Medical prescriptions are the primary source of benzodiazepines for abusers, but some of these prescriptions are obtained illegally. Benzodiazepine addicts often use a practice known as "doctor shoppingA practice in which an individual continually switches physicians so that he or she can get enough of a prescription drug to feed an addiction; this makes it difficult for physicians to track whether the patient has already been prescribed the same drug by another physician." to keep up with their addiction. They switch doctors and visit emergency rooms regularly in the hopes of getting multiple prescriptions for benzodiazepines. The doctors used in this scheme are usually unaware that another physician has already prescribed the same drugs for the patient.
Writing fake prescriptions on stolen prescription pads is a common practice used to obtain prescription drugs. Another means of getting prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines is by buying the drug from a patient who was legitimately prescribed the medication. These "legitimate" patients can be friends, parents, relatives, or even people on the street offering their pills in exchange for money.
Regardless of how the drugs are obtained, it is against the law to possess or use controlled substances such as benzodiazepines without a doctor's prescription. Selling or distributing benzodiazepines to others is a more serious offense. Physicians who write fraudulent prescriptions are also subject to various legal consequences. These include felony convictions and the possible loss of their medical licenses.
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