Benzo Research Project

We are collecting stories from young people who have had experiences with non-prescription benzodiazepine use - either by taking them or being around those who are using them.

If you are a young person between the ages of 18-25 years old (or were at the time of your experience with benzos) - we would love to hear your story.

Your stories will appear on two websites: Benzo Research Project and Drugs and Me. Excerpts may be shared on social media to highlight the issues involved. We may also use the stories to draw attention to the Benzo Research Project campaign and seek support for it.

As part of our advocacy and harm reduction work, we are also interested in analysing the content of the stories which are shared on the platform. This research will help us to better understand people’s experiences who use benzos recreationally, and of those around them.

We very much appreciate your contribution to this work and are now seeking your consent and some additional details.

What do we mean by ‘recreational benzo use’?

In the context of this project, we are referring to the use of benzodiazepines outside of the medicinal purposes they are prescribed for. This includes all forms of benzo usage that hasn’t been directly prescribed to you by a doctor.

This could include: self-medicating with them for anxiety, using them with friends or on a night out, or you may have been prescribed them for medicinal purposes but are using them for enjoyment. We would very much like to hear from people aged 18-25**.

What is key is that we do not include exclusively medically prescribed benzos in our testimony criteria. If you have any queries, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram, or via email: benzoresearchteam@gmail.com

Your story can take any form you’d like, but we have included some questions as a starting point, or loose guide for your submission. It would really help us to know whether you are still using benzos, or how long you were taking them for.

• What is your experience with recreational benzo use? This can be negative/positive, in relation to your own use, or in regards to others taking benzos around you.
• If you are submitting as a benzo user, what motivates you to take benzos? What are you usually doing when you take them?
• If you are submitting as someone who was with someone else who took a benzo, what was your experience like? What visible effects did it have on them, and how did that impact you?
• Have you ever sought support for benzo use or considered it? If so, what did that support look like to you?
• What sort of drug or mental health support from local services would you find useful?
• Have you ever experienced blackouts on benzos?
• Do you think that learning about benzos at school would be useful?
• Do you feel like there is a link between club culture or Soundcloud rappers and benzo use?

The boxes below on demographic information are optional, which would enhance the quality of our research. This information will be shared on the website alongside your testimony and will only be used for research purposes: