Overview

• Official data show more than one million people in Catalonia used benzodiazepines in 2024, continuing a mild downturn that totals a 3% drop from the 2022 peak.
• Designed for short courses, these medications are frequently maintained over time, with eight in ten patients receiving prescriptions lasting beyond four weeks.
• Experts cite daytime sedation, cognitive impairment in older adults, impaired driving, interactions with alcohol and a high risk of dependence as key harms.
• Interviews and police reporting detail a profitable resale market, with €3 prescription boxes sold for €40–50 using tactics such as family fraud, pharmacy diversion and online orders.
• Recent operations confiscated around 1,500 boxes in Cádiz and Cartagena and nearly 6,000 in Galicia, while Catalonia rolls out primary-care pilots offering non-drug therapies and emotional-wellbeing support.