{"id":1476,"date":"2025-09-09T14:42:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/?p=1476"},"modified":"2025-09-10T17:47:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T14:47:37","slug":"latvia-faces-tranquilizer-addiction-crisis-benzodiazepine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/latvia-faces-tranquilizer-addiction-crisis-benzodiazepine\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvia Faces Tranquilizer Addiction Crisis; Benzodiazepine Use Soars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/tabs.jpg\" alt=\"Pills for tranquilizer addiction in Latvia\" class=\"wp-image-16005\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/ejs-launched-in-latvia-by-dmitry-savvin\/\">Latvia<\/a> is grappling with a severe and rapidly escalating problem of tranquilizer addiction. According to Latvian Radio 4, while only 17% of patients in Europe take benzodiazepines, this figure soars to 40% in Latvia, a rate several times the European average and a threefold increase over the past six years. Approximately <strong>57,000 Latvians<\/strong> daily consume these medications, turning what should be short-term treatments into long-standing habits. The issue was highlighted by <a href=\"https:\/\/mixnews.lv\/latviya\/2025\/09\/09\/latviya-tonet-v-trankvilizatorah-57-tysyach-chelovek-ezhednevno-glushat-trevogu-tabletkami\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mixnews<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The core of the problem lies in insufficient oversight. Despite regulations stipulating that only one pack per month should be prescribed by a single doctor, patients easily obtain multiple prescriptions from different specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The publication notes that tranquilizers are being prescribed not only by psychiatrists and family doctors but also by a range of unexpected specialists\u2014from gastroenterologists and cardiologists to even massage therapists and physiotherapists, who are not medically qualified. This situation puzzles even healthcare professionals. \u201c<em>Why would a pathologist have the right to prescribe Xanax?<\/em>\u201d wonders psychiatrist Marta Gebele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As long as access to powerful medications remains so straightforward and the system for monitoring their prescription is merely a formality, the number of individuals struggling with addiction is set to continue its upward trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Latvia&#8217;s Tranquilizer Addiction Repercussions<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The repercussions of this \u201csilent epidemic\u201d are already evident in hospitals, which are seeing a rising number of patients admitted for overdoses and suicidal ideation. Investigative journalists from Latvian Radio\u2019s &#8216;Atv\u0113rtie faili&#8217; program are sounding the alarm, stating that Latvia\u2019s healthcare system faces a grave challenge. Without decisive measures to tighten controls, halting the growth of this addiction crisis will be impossible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Latvia is grappling with a severe and rapidly escalating problem of tranquilizer addiction. According to Latvian Radio 4, while only 17% of patients in Europe take benzodiazepines, this figure soars to 40% in Latvia, a rate several times the European average and a threefold increase over the past six years. Approximately 57,000 Latvians daily consume [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_newsroomin_seo_keywords":"","_newsroomin_seo_lead_override":"","_newsroomin_disable_ads":false,"_newsroomin_is_archived":"","_newsroomin_tooltips":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,1599,1604],"tags":[394,392,393],"class_list":["post-1476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-latvia","category-news","tag-benzodiazepine","tag-latvia","tag-tranquilizer"],"tooltips":[],"newsroomin_tooltips":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}