There is a long history to this drug, it being approved by the FDA
in 1959 before the current requirements for clinical trials were
introduced. By 2000, it had become the second most commonly prescribed
muscle relaxant. In 2006, more than 10 million prescriptions were
written. This would suggest the drug is well-regarded by doctors and
used under their supervision in hospitals and other clinical
surroundings. But this is not the case. Because it is freely available
as a generic drug and so cheap, it is rapidly becoming a drug of abuse
and sixteen US states have now reclassified it as a schedule IV
controlled substance. This is potentially a dangerous development
because, unlike other drugs which have been abused for decades, there
are no medical protocols in place for dealing with addiction and the
inevitable withdrawal systems. Why has it taken so long for the level of
abuse to rise? In part, it is because the effect of the drug is as a
tranquilizer or sedative at higher dosages. Fifty years ago, people
preferred their recreation to involve excitement rather than sleep.
Indeed, if you look at the information given out by the manufacturer
today, you will see drowsiness given as a common side effect.
Even after all these years, there is still no medical explanation of
how Carisoprodol achieves its effect. Indeed, despite increasingly
frequent reports of addiction from 1978 onwards, doctors cannot explain
why patients become dependent. Given this uncertainty, it should not be
surprising that Carisoprodol
has now been listed as a drug of concern by the Department of Justice
Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA's interest at a federal level comes
from recent evidence that large quantities of the drug are being
diverted from wholesale to street distribution. In 2007, the World
Health Organization announced its opinion that the abuse potential now
outweighed any possible medical benefit from its use unless patients
could be persuaded only to use it for very short periods of time. You
may therefore expect the supply of this drug to become more tightly
controlled within the US. Whether the same happens to the international
pharmacies will depend on where they are based. However, you should be
aware that there may be increased customs inspections as the drugs come
into the country. Access to the chemistry of escape may soon be limited.
