Benzodiazepines

Xanax, or alprazolam, is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S. market. It belongs to the benzodiazepine class (“BZDs”, or “benzos”), which were synthesized in the late 1950s in an effort to replace barbiturates as a medication for anxiety and sedation. These drugs rapidly flooded the market from the 60s-2000s, before side effects such as high addictive potential and slow breathing rate became more well known and categorized. Xanax itself is the most prescribed psychiatric medication in the U.S., with 25 million total prescriptions in 2017.