Xanax Abuse and Treatment

Xanax abuse is becoming more and more common as the drug becomes available illegally and without a prescription on various Internet sites. It’s illegal for Xanax to be sold without a prescription in the United States, and illegal for Internet sites to do the same. But many do, and many are housed outside the US, which makes stopping their sale of the drugs a special kind of challenge.

Xanax is a depressant that affects a person’s central nervous system. It acts as a sort of tranquilizer, and so is commonly prescribed to calm a person’s fears, ease anxiety and prevent or fight off panic and anxiety attacks, depression and other mental symptoms. Many people who don’t have a prescription for the drug know of its benefits and seek to buy it anyway, with most of them now turning to the Internet to do so. The dangers of buying Xanax illegally are many, but one of the most serious is the possibility of Xanax abuse.

When a person takes any prescription drug there are usually some sort of potential side effects and dangers that the doctor explains before giving the patient the drug. This is so the person is made aware of both the benefits they can expect from the drug, and the potential drawbacks. Xanax acquired illegally gives the person taking it no such information. Because Xanax is a potentially addictive drug and when purchased illegally there’s no physician monitoring the person’s use of the drug, Xanax abuse becomes much more likely than with someone who was actually given a prescription.

Xanax is also known alprazolam, and is listed as a Schedule IV drug, with Schedule I drugs being the most addictive and potentially harmful and Schedule V containing those drugs that are the least likely to be addictive or harmful. According to the schedule, Xanax abuse isn’t likely, but it is possible.

When it’s purchased illegally without a prescription, part of the problem with the lack of physician monitoring is the frequency the drug is taken, and the amounts that are taken. Aside from the initial problem of not being advised about the side effects of the drug, a person without a prescription really doesn’t know how big a dose is warranted in his or her case, or how often to take it.

This improper dosing and dose frequency can lead to the person becoming immune to the drug quite quickly, which helps lead to Xanax abuse. Even when the drug is prescribed and taken properly, the potential for the drug to lose its effectiveness over time is still there. Xanax users often experience the need for higher doses of the drug after being on it a while. The body simply builds up a tolerance to the drug so that more is required for the same relief as before.

Xanax abuse is much more likely to happen if someone increases the doses and dosing frequency regularly, and that’s much more likely to happen if the drug was purchased without a prescription.