Q: What are barbiturates?
A: Barbiturates are a group of drugs used by doctors to treat patients who are suffering from anxiety or who are having trouble sleeping.
Some examples of barbiturates are Seconal®, Nembutal®, Amytal® and Tuinal®. Street names for barbiturates include “reds,” “red devils,” “yellow jackets,” “blue heavens,” “Christmas trees” and “rainbows.”
Q: What’s the difference between a tranquillizer or sleeping pill and a barbiturate?
A: The main difference is in their chemical structure. In general, tranquillizers and barbiturates have similar effects, but barbiturates are stronger. Barbiturates are prescribed less often now that doctors have a greater number of tranquillizers and sleeping pills to choose from.
Q: What do barbiturates do to the body?
A: Like tranquillizers and sleeping pills, barbiturates are “downers.” They work by reducing the amount of activity in the brain and central nervous system. This causes a feeling of calm in people who take them.
Q: What are the dangers of barbiturates?
A: Because they are stronger than tranquillizers and sleeping pills, barbiturates are more dangerous when abused. People develop tolerance to barbiturates faster than on tranquillizers. This leads them to take more to get the same effect as they used to get with smaller amounts. These larger doses are especially dangerous because very high doses can be deadly.
Q: Is it dangerous to take other drugs with barbiturates?
A: Mixing two kinds of any drug is always risky. With barbiturates, a big danger comes when they are taken with alcohol. Why? Because alcohol and barbiturates have similar effects on the body. Both reduce the amount of activity in the central nervous system. So if someone combines alcohol and barbiturates, the amount of activity in their nervous system will be greatly reduced. This can lead to death.
Some people who use heroin mix it with barbiturates. Like alcohol and barbiturates, heroin reduces activity in the central nervous system. Taking two drugs that reduce this activity can be fatal.
Q: What does taking barbiturates over a period of months or years do to a person?
A: Over time, regular use of barbiturates can cause liver damage and blood problems.
Q: Do barbiturates have any other effects?
A: Yes. Barbiturates can affect memory and judgment. They can also create depression, anger, mood swings and extreme tiredness.
Q: Are barbiturates addictive?
A: Yes. People can become dependent on barbiturates. This means they start to “need” the effects of barbiturates. If they stop taking them suddenly, people who are dependent on barbiturates can experience sleeping problems, restlessness, irritability and even death.
