Commonly Used Drugs/Central Nervous System Depressants

by National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health

Central Nervous System Depressants
Medications that slow brain activity, which makes them useful for treating anxiety and sleep problems. For more information, see the Misuse of Prescription Drugs Research Report.
Street Names	Commercial Names (Common)	Common Forms	Common Ways Taken	DEA Schedule
Barbs, Dolls, Phennies, Red/BlueBirds, Tooties, Yellow Jackets, Yellows	Barbiturates: pentobarbital (Nembutal®)	Pill, capsule, liquid	Swallowed, injected	II, III, IV
Benzos, Downers, Poles, Tranks, Totem Z-Bars, Vs, Yellow/Blue Zs, Zannies	Benzodiazepines: alprazolam (Xanax®), chlorodiazepoxide (Librium®), diazepam (Valium®), lorazepam (Ativan®), triazolam (Halicon®)	Pill, capsule, liquid	Swallowed, snorted	IV
Forget-me pill, Looney Bar, Mexican Valium, R2, Roche, Tic-Tacs, Sleepeasy, Symphony, Zombie flip	Sleep Medications: eszopiclone (Lunesta®), zaleplon (Sonata®), zolpidem (Ambien®)	Pill, capsule, liquid	Swallowed, snorted	IV
Possible Health Effects
Short-term	Drowsiness, slurred speech, poor concentration, confusion, dizziness, problems with movement and memory, lowered blood pressure, slowed breathing.
Long-term	Unknown.
Other Health-related Issues	Sleep medications are sometimes used as date rape drugs. Risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases from shared needles.
In Combination with Alcohol	Further slows heart rate and breathing, which can lead to death.
Withdrawal Symptoms	Must be discussed with a health care provider; barbiturate withdrawal can cause a serious abstinence syndrome that may even include seizures.
Treatment Options
Medications	There are no FDA-approved medications to treat addiction to prescription sedatives; lowering the dose over time must be done with the help of a health care provider.
Behavioral Therapies	More research is needed to find out if behavioral therapies can be used to treat addiction to prescription sedatives.