Tobacco use linked with higher use of opioids and sedatives
Tobacco is a known risk factor for the misuse of prescription opioids. In addition, concurrent use of opioids and sedative-hypnotics is a risk factor for opioid overdose or addiction.
In an American Journal on Addictions study, tobacco users were more likely to receive prescriptions for opioid analgesics with muscle relaxants and/or benzodiazepines than people who did not use tobacco.
The findings, which come from an annual survey of visits to office-based physicians in outpatient settings in the United States, suggest that appropriate caution should be exercised while co-prescribing opioid analgesics with muscle relaxants and/or benzodiazepines among tobacco users to prevent prescription drug addiction.
More information: Hiroko Takaki et al. The association of tobacco use with prescription of muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines, and opioid analgesics for non-cancer pain, The American Journal on Addictions (2019). DOI: 10.1111/ajad.12830