ABSTRACT
The prescription and consumption of benzodiazepines and other minor tranquillizers is a feature of the current health care scene which has engendered a great deal of public and professional debate (Gabe and Williams 1986a; Gabe and Bury 1987). The most important stimulus for this debate was the regular annual increase in the number of prescriptions for these drugs that occurred in many countries during the late 1960s and the early 1970s (e.g., Parish 1971; Trethowan 1975; Williams 1980; Marks 1983). The evidence clearly indicates that these increases in prescribing were largely due to an escalation in the extent of long-term benzodiazepine use (Williams 1983a); thus, it is not surprising that the extent of, and the alleged problems associated with, long-term use have been the major focus for critical comment, from both within and without the medical profession.
