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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Maya Oppenheim

Hundreds of thousands more women than men prescribed powerful anti-anxiety drugs ‘harder to come off than heroin’

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Hundreds of thousands more women than men have been prescribed powerful anti-anxiety drugs which experts warn are harder to come off than heroin, The Independent can reveal.

New information obtained under freedom of information (FOI) laws shows women in England were 59 per cent more likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines – better known by the brand names of Valium, Xanax and Temazapam – than men between January 2017 and December 2021.

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