Since the drug poses a possibility of withdrawal such as severe anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and seizure episodes; sudden discontinuation of taking the medication must be prevented (Karch, 2006). Every patient’s dose should be decreased slowly when discontinuing treatment or when decreasing the daily dose. While there is no thoroughly gathered information to support a certain termination program, it is recommended that the everyday dose be lessened by less than 0.5 mg every three days.
Other patients need a more sluggish tapering of the therapy. At any rate, reduction of the drug’s dosage must be carried out under strict control and should be slow and continuing. If noticeable withdrawal symptoms progresses, the earlier dosing plan must be reinstituted and, only when the condition becomes stable, should a reduced immediate time of termination be undertaken.
In a termination study of panic disorder patients which related the proposed tapering program with a sluggish narrowing down of dosages schedule, no discrepancy was noted with the sets of patients who tapered to nothing; on the other hand, the longer and gradual program was related with a lessening in signs connected with a withdrawal condition. It is recommended that the amount of drug to be administered be decreased by less than 0. 5 mg every 3 days, with the knowledge that several patients may benefit still from slow continuous termination. Other patients may demonstrate resistance to every termination therapies.
Laws on Taking Controlled Substances Continuous endeavor in fighting the campaign against drug addiction are done by the local, state, and federal agencies. In accordance with the latest information on drugs, the numbers of individuals apprehended under the controlled drug and substance act violations only were more than two hundred thousand people with 34. 2% of the total arrests (Criminal Defense Lawyer, 2007). The impression that this gave on the residents of the United States is overwhelming. No other nation has the same guiding principle in observance.
To facilitate the control on drug abuse, the law enforcement groups have solicited a method to simply imprison certain drug abusers, in that way, this plan have taken apart the foundation of a number of American’s lives. There are a lot of people whom are arrested on a daily basis for using, possessing, manufacturing and delivering drugs. Below is a brief list of criminal drug charges. The charges may be Felony or Misdemeanor, depending on the amount and type of substance others include: drug possession, drug manufacture, drug delivery, drug distribution, drug trafficking, drug cultivation
Statistics of Drug users Information on the usage of psycho-therapeutic medications does not confirm the known observation of the citizens of the United States as unwarranted and extreme users of anti-anxiety medications. Only about one in four adults in the country diagnosed as acquiring severe symptoms that could require anxiolytic treatment is really having such therapy. The greater number of patients, eighty-five percent under an anxiolytic therapy takes the drug for rather brief period, and only about fifteen percent of patients have it non-stop for more than a year.
The total occurrence of the usage of any anxiolytic medication for a whole year among adults in the United States, no matter what of the number of intake or length of time used, is about 11 percent. (Shade rand Greenblatt, 2007) Further Research Various clinical studies and researches have been undertaken about this drug. The following studies are cited from Drug. com, a website which provides information on numerous medications available worldwide (2007):
When a vermin was exposed with the drug at three different dosages, which are more than the maximum recommended human dosage, by mouth for two years, likelihood for a dosage related rise in the total of cataracts was detected in females and a trend for a dosage related rise in corneal vascularization was noted in males. These injuries did not develop until after eleven months of therapy. Xanax medication was related to placebo in double blind clinical research in which the dosages were up to 4 mg/day, in individuals diagnosed with anxiety or anxiety with depression symptoms.
Alprazolam was considerably better than placebo at each of the evaluation phase of the four week studies as concluded by the psychometric factors. Provision for the efficiency of Alprazolam in the therapy of panic disorder was noted from three brief, placebo-controlled researches in patients with findings narrowly matching to DSM-III-R criterion for panic illness. The standard dose of the drug was 5–6 mg/day in two of the researches, and the dosages of Xanax were set at 2 and 6 mg/day in the third experiment.
From the three researches, Xanax was exceptional to placebo on a variable termed as the total of respondents with zero panic attacks and on global enhancement result. In two of the three researches, Xanax was better to placebo on a variable identified as change from baseline on the total of panic episodes weekly and also on a phobia rating level. Another group of patients who felt better on Xanax during a brief therapy in one of these experiments was carried on until eight months, without any evident disadvantage.
References
Ashton, C.(2007) Rational Use of Benzodiazepines. Newcastle upon Tyne, England Criminal Defense Lawyer. (20 September, 2007). Drugs Charge Overview. Retrieved 24 November, 2007 from http://www. criminaldefenselawyer. com/drug-charge. cfm Drugs. com. (14 November 2007). Alprazolam. Retrieved 26 November 2007 from http://www. drugs. com/pro/alprazolam. html International Program on Chemical Safety (IPCS). (2007). Rational Use Of Benzodiazepines. Retrieved 25 November 2007 from http://www. inchem. org/ Johnson MD. (2007) Alprazolam Chemistry and Pharmacology. Retrieved 25 November 2007 from http://www. alprazolam. cc/generic-xanax-pharmacology.htm
Medical Drug Handbook. (27rd Ed. ). (2007). Springhouse. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. MedlinePlus. (2007). American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. Bethesda, Maryland Seeley, A., Stephens, J. , and Tate, T. (3rd Ed. ). (2006). Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology. New York, New York. Bantam Dell. Shader, R. and Greenblatt, D. (2007) Use of Benzodiazepines in Anxiety Disorders. Retrieved 25 November 2007 from http://content. nejm. org/cgi/content/full/328/19/1398