Study, June/16: "Weighing the Risks and Benefits of Chronic Opioid Therapy"

There are a couple of notable points in this abstract:

"When patients are discontinuing opioid therapy, the dosage should be decreased slowly, especially in those who have intolerable withdrawal. It is not unreasonable for discontinuation of chronic opioid therapy to take many months."

"Benzodiazepines should not be coprescribed during chronic opioid therapy or when tapering, because some patients may develop cross-dependence."

My understanding is that co-prescribing opioids and benzos can be deadly due to the possible effects on respiration. Both medications can slow respiration.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27304767