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INTERACTION BETWEEN BARBITURATES, ALCOHOL AND SOME PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS

1970; Wiley; Volume: 1; Issue: 24 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5694/j.1326-5377.1970.tb84527.x

1326-5377

Gerald Milner,

Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Barbiturates are often described as the most common agent for self-destruction, but alcoholism (“slow suicide”) affects 5% of the Australian population. Alcohol, exaggerating aggressiveness and diminishing judgement and skills, underlies 50% of road deaths (3,382 In Australia last year). The effects of a drug represent a complex interaction between the chemical agent, the individual, and the environment in which the drug is taken. The environment for the majority of adults includes the use of alcohol and the control of complex machinery, especially the motor car. Barbiturates have been shown to add to the deleterious effects of alcohol, and a positive joint drug action increases the hazards of accidental and suicidal overdosage. Studies of the effects of alcohol and other drugs on driving skills are only just being undertaken. An estimate is given of the relative potency of different psychotropic agents (which are being ever more widely prescribed) in adding to the effects of alcohol. The dangers of barbiturates far outweigh their usefulness, particularly when they are compared with some more modern drugs. It is stated that barbiturates are often prescribed casually and to excess, and that doctors need more information about drug-alcohol Interaction in order to be able to warn patients as to how a drug may affect their day-to-day behaviour.