I've created this thread as a 'base' or 'hub' to gather the ever-changing information about Research-Chemicals (RC's) that fall under the Benzodiazepine class of compounds by-proxy of their molecular structure.
As I began researching this thread and compiling data on specific RC benzos, I realised that the market was changing significantly, at one point literally as I was copying information it was being removed from online shops nationwide; many of the compounds I was researching were now no longer available and my data was decadent; many new compounds were surfacing to replace them so I began to reseach those, and the cycle began again. I couldn't play catch-up and I realised an approach of compiling data on specific RC benzos in an opening post would soon become out-of-date, so with that in mind the way I'm approaching this is to make this thread a hub where people can update ad-hoc information when new benzos come onto the market, and hopefully become a useful first-stop-thread for the members that come here looking for support & advice on withdrawing from non-prescription benzos (mostly I'm referring to people who use Reseach Chemicals from the Internet as that can sometimes be a thing we need to help people with).
In almost all cases, RC benzos are more tolerable and far easier to withdraw from than prescription benzos because they're not as heavily refined for human consumption, making them less addictive generally-speaking (much like raw opium isn't as addictive as refined heroin).
While they should be treated as any benzo should, they shouldn't necessarily be approached with the same vigour when it comes to withdrawing from them as, say, klonopin or xanax, because they're not as powerful and act on different receptors, sometimes by using designed reverse-tolerance mechanisms to increase duration-of-usefulness and reduce dependence probability.
As of writing this (June 2015) the most commonly consumed RC benzos available on the market are/were:
Diclazepam
Pyrazolam
Nifoxipam
Flubromazepam
Clonazolam
Etizolam*
* Though not banned Etizolam is no longer being sold to reselers by the manufacturers in India or in Europe, and no explanation as been offered. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a major pharmaceutical (Roche) pressurised them to withdraw supply to RC suppliers or lose other business / face permanent litigation. It may or may not resurface at any time in the future but is the most desired, and people still may have large stores of it at home, so we will look at it here.
The above are all common Analogues that are used to make certain prescription drugs such as Valium, but are sold as Research Chemicals and maketed as 'not for human consumption' to get through certain loopholes in drug-laws in most countries.
In looking at how these compounds are sold legally and why, we'll see a side of the industry that they do not openly show on their cleverly-designed websites.
For example, LSD is internationally known and internationally illegal. So in the UK we used to sell LA-LAD, which is an analogue used to make LSD-25, the original LSD formula. That became banned, so we brought out LSZ, another analogue of LSD-25, which became banned, so we brought out 1P-LSD (
), which has not yet been banned, but when it is another analogue will replace it. You see how it works?
There are literally thousands upon thousands of possible potential psychoactive analogues that we already know about, discovered originally by the poly-scientist
Alexander Shulgin which has inspired research into many old papers from the late 40' to 70's to see which psychoactive compounds are available to sell legally as Research Chemicals, and potentially hundreds of thousands more combinations available yet to discover.
This means the 'authorities' are always playing catch-up to the RC manufacturers and online resellers.
However, this means that we're constantly being provided with new, novel compounds that, although known about as potentially active in the brain, have not been tested in-vivo (inside a living organism) and have only been produced lawfully for study in-vitro (outside of a living organism). So, do we know what effects they have on our bodies?
No. That is the simple, scientific truth of it, that's why they're not classed as in-vivo drugs and are called Reseach Chemicals, because that's what we're putting into our bodies when we consume them, Research Chemicals, not street-drugs. That's worth bearing in mind. It's also worth bearing in mind that the quality of the compounds sold online varies greatly and much of it is then further cut by the online reseller, just like any coke dealer would before selling it to you.
However, the global supply for Research Chemicals appears to come mostly from two sources, one in China and another vague one somewhere in Europe. Months of buying the same compound from different suppliers simultaneously confirms to me that the same product being sold by most of those considered 'reliable' suppliers is just supplied to them wholesale by one of these two manufacturers and they don't actually have their own 'strain' as most of them claim. There is no such thing as a 'strain' of chemical. It either conforms to the molecule's standard and is that chemical or it doesn't and isn't that chemical. Poorly produced batches can either be purer or less pure than the next, but that's all. So, that means we're just being lied to. It's that simple. What happens is one of the two manufacturers makes a batch and it's sold by the resellers across the globe until it's consumed and a new batch is made. That's all that's happening.
I'd question any street-dealer who told me what I was buying was X and I discovered it to be Y. I'm even more wary of people who sell chemicals from a website that talks a lot about customer service, unbeatable prices and says they're "100% verified, trusted suplier" with the little badges everywhere, and sells me X but supplies me Y.
But, let's stop and think for a moment. 100% trusted & verified by who? Would you like to know?
The answer is by another website that reviews their website, which they pay a yearly membership fee for. They make no actual claim to anything and aren't an organisation acting as an independant regulator. It's intentionally misleading. They also make claims such as "99.2%" pure at all times, yet I can promise you this simply is not the case any a quick read of the RC forums will show you that many very experienced chemists test these compounds and show results that they are NOT anywhere near that purity that consistently, and can sometimes be more in the region of 30-40% pure. So, the question is what is the remaining compound made up of?
I've bought a synthetic cannabinoid that works well with my body, but I was deceptively sold a different cannabinoid that does NOT work well with me and makes me very sick. This was from a "100% trusted supplier". Well, in my 26yrs of drug use and I can tell you I've never seen such irresponsible drug-dealing from any street-dealer!!
They're not trusted by me any longer, and neither is anyone who uses that badge from this point. In fact, in my humble opinion, none of them are selling these compounds with your health in mind, they're selling them to make profit with zero care for your health. This more fits the old stereotype of drug-dealers selling drugs and not caring about your death, to the reality of any of the drug-dealers who I've met who would never EVER sell one drug and claim it was another, because they cared about their friends lives.
What they do, is proactively focus on selling us benzodiazepines because they're addictive and very cheap to manufacture.
Is that sinking in?
Let's take a look at what we have been are are likely to be putting into our bodies in the future and take an earnest look at the effects of withdrawing from these compounds, and should they or should they not be compared to benzos sold by pharmaceutical companies as prescription medications. We'll prelude with some basic understanding of the common terminology used in this market as it can vary significantly from the prescription market:
What is a Research Chemical?A "Research Chemical" (RC) is some form of psychoactive compound that is sold for use in scientific & medical research. Many research chemicals are structurally-similar to controlled compounds and are often analogues of prescription meds such as Valium, and illegal street-drugs such as LSD. Because most of them produce effects similar or even better to illegal drugs they're marketed as 'not for human consumption', when the reality is that this is exactly what they're sold for, right down to names and look of common illegal street-drugs. However, none of us really know what effects these compounds have on us in the mid to long-term.
What is an Analogue?An analogue is:
- A compound that resembles another in structure but is not necessarily an isomer (5-fluorouracil is an analogue of thymine); analogues are often used to block enzymatic reactions by combining them with enzymes (isopropyl thiogalactoside vs. lactose).
- A compound used in the manufacture of a drug.
Note: Definitions vary, and the DEA in America even have their
own definition that claims an analogue is intended for human consumption. Which is patently false and the usual failed-drug-war rhetoric.
.....
What sort of Research Chemicals are coming under the class of compounds we know as Benzodiazepines and what are the key considerations when starting to use, continuing to use, becoming dependent on and then withdrawing from these chemicals? Are there legitimate uses for such compounds and is it ok to take them occasionally when killing a psychedelic or stimulant experience?
The two 'mainstayers' in the RC benzo market are:
Diclazepam
Pyrazolam
These are of particular interest because they're not coming under any Orwellian pressure to be banned. Pyrazolam is also the only known benzodiazepine that doesn't undergo metabolism and is instead excreted renally unchanged. A quick comparion between the two Wiki links shows that these two RC benzos are very, very different in the way they work, which gaba receptors they agonise, how they're processed by the body, durtion and mode-of-action (how they get into the body and have an effect on it) and withdrawal profile.
- Member's note: If a member arrives on Pyrazolam we would handle their needs a bit differently to someone using Diclazepam. For support-purposes only, think of Pyrazolam as similar to Xanax and Diclazepam as similar to Valium with similar but less-severe withdrawal profiles (I've heavily used both and the withdrawal profile is not pleasant for either, but subjectively I'd judge Diclazepam as far more predictable than Valium)
I mentioned Etizolam earlier in the thread so take a peek at that very common RC benzo:
Etizolam:
Etizolam (marketed under the brand name Etilaam,Etizola, Sedekopan, Etizest Pasaden or Depas). The etizolam molecule differs from a benzodiazepine in that the benzene ring has been replaced by a thiophene ring, making the drug a thienodiazepine.
This makes it less addictive, more tolerable, and has an inbuilt reverse-tolerance effect (
upregulation of gaba receptors rather than the usual downgrading) than can make the drug far more useful past 6 weeks of regular use with less tolerance effects. It's also the only RC benzo that IS a prescription medication in some Asian/Eastern countries and used to be available as a generic (made by anyone to a specification) or as a properly strip-packed, pharmaceutically-pressed pill complete with product-labelling and information leaflet.
- Member's note: For support-purposes only think of Etizolam as not similar to other benzos that you're used to, but it's widely considered a short-acting, easy-going benzo that rarely sees anyone with severe sx's even among extremely heavy users and protracted withdrawl (PAWS) has not yet been reported wth Etizolam (this was my most-used benzo and in my opinion and the opinions of the many who've become dependent on it, it's best quick-tapered by most people as a slow or micro-taper can actually push someone past their dependence limit and increase their dependence, not reduce it slowly over time).
If you feel a switch to a long-acting benzo to avoid interdose-symptoms is best, but the member cannot get them from a doctor, a good RC alternative is Diclazepam, and is what most RC users would recommend as a way to taper from RC benzos with a long-acting metabolite. I, too, recommend this approach in-general for those who wish a slow taper with RC benzos. **I passionately urge members here to avoid assuming that switching to Valium is the best option for RC users on short-acting RC benzos, because it's far more addictve than Diclazepam and will provide no addtional taper benefit to an RC benzo-user over Diclazepam.
Interdose withdrawl & craving (between the 2-4hr mark) is
very common among regular or dependent users of Etizolam as it's very quickly metabolised & excreted, and this is too-often attributed to a severe addiction when it almost cetainly won't be with this
specific drug.
Craving this particular drug does not always equate to a dependence.
A gradual spacing between dosing or switching to less-frequent doses of Diclazepam is the most-common and best available advice to-date on how to reach cessation from Etizolam (or other short-acting RC benzos). Although death from cold-turkey / overdose from has not been reported from Etizolam use alone, it is still to be treated with the same care as if it could cause death, because the risk is still present, although vastly less than prescribed benzos.
Is it ok to use the occasional RC benzo to come down from a trip or stimulant and will you become addicted to them?The harms of taking ANY Research Chemical cannot be fully understood at this time so the risk to put them into your body is entirely down to you. BenzoBuddies does not judge anyone using unprescribed benzos as how we came to be struggling with them is irrelevant, so I'd encourage any RC users to stick around; the lack of replies is often seen as apathy to RC users' posts, but people here are rarely using RC benzos so they don't want to risk giving you misleading support/advice, but the more of us that stick around and contribute what we know about the RC benzos available the greater the knowledge-base becomes at a serious forum to help people intending to gather information or intending to withdraw, not offering advice on how to use them.
That said, my personal experience in that world and all the availalabe science says, yes, generally-speaking it's far safer to take any RC benzo than it is to remain in an unsafe state on a psychedelic or stimulant. A benzodiazpine of some kind is the standard intravenous treament at an ER/A&E for overdoses of both those class of drugs. I would personally consider someone an irreponsible fool for not giving me an RC benzo during a panic attack on psychedelics or stimulants, because they were worried about my health at the time.
The risk of dependence is so unprecdictable it cannot be said for sure either way, but for all intents & purpose, for the sake of your question, it's practically impossible to become dependent on an RC benzo if you use a few once in a while as a safety-aid / comedown aid to other drug-use. I personally advise being EXTREMELY wary of using ANY RC benzo as it is by far the second worse drug I've ever encountered, next to alcohol.
What's important to avoid is a regular pattern of use that the body becomes accustomed to, even if that spacing is once every 4 weeks. The body and mind DO notice this and can develop an expectation every 4 weeks and complain when it doesn't get it (cravings).
That can easily lead to more regular use and very quickly forgetting to keep track of useage, and before we know it.. we're spaced-out and dependent.
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I'm hoping this will fill a space for support-needs for those who arrive using RC benzos and I'm aiming to update-as-I-go, but I won't be here forever and I'd be very grateful if anyone who found it useful could add a post to it before you leave the forum, maybe a quick update with what's on the market at the time with a link to wiki or something? That way we can keep the ball rolling for the next member who comes along needing help with RC benzos.
Thanks a lot.
