Doctors call for crackdown on popular painkillers dubbed 'the new Valium' over fears they are highly addictive

  • Over one million Brits have been prescribed pregabalin and gabapentin
  • They can be used to treat chronic pain, anxiety and is licensed to treat epilepsy 
  • Home Office is planning to make the two drugs official class C substances  

By JO MACFARLANE FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

Published: | Updated:

Doctors have called for a crackdown on popular painkillers dubbed 'the new Valium' over fears that they are highly addictive.

More than a million Britons have been prescribed pregabalin and gabapentin to treat chronic pain and anxiety. The drugs are also licensed to treat epilepsy.

Prescriptions for both drugs have more than doubled since they were licensed in 2011. They have been linked to scores of deaths and cases of addiction.

More than a million Britons have been prescribed pregabalin and gabapentin to treat chronic pain and anxiety. File image used 

More than a million Britons have been prescribed pregabalin and gabapentin to treat chronic pain and anxiety. File image used 

Now the British Medical Association says it wants to see stricter controls. 

In a memo leaked to The Mail on Sunday, the BMA warns that the drugs are 'associated with problems of abuse and addiction', adding they 'can, when misused, produce a similar euphoric high to opiates'.

It is backing a Home Office plan to treat them the same way as other addictive drugs such as tramadol by making them class C substances. 

Possession without a prescription would be illegal and could lead to prison.

The Home Office is planning to treat them the same way as other addictive drugs such as tramadol by making them class C substances 

The Home Office is planning to treat them the same way as other addictive drugs such as tramadol by making them class C substances 

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