Is etizolam a safe medication? Effects on psychomotor perfomance at therapeutic dosages of a newly abused psychoactive substance

Etizolam is a drug from the thienotriazoldiazepine class, widely prescribed as anxiolytic due to its apparently secure toxicological profile. Nevertheless, some recent cases of etizolam dependence, intoxications and fatalities associated to its abuse have been reported in the international literature. For this reason, the drug listed as new psychoactive substance (NPS) by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2015. Euphoric effect at high dosage is the first cause of its recreational use that has determined a wider distribution in the illicit market. An experimental study was performed to obtain evidence that etizolam at low therapeutic dosages is a drug with negligible influence on the psychomotor performances involved in driving. The psychomotor performance was assessed by performing different tests, such as critical tracking task (CTT), critical flicker fusion (CFF), choice reaction time (CRT), visual vigilance task (VVT), response competition test (RCT) in a group of 16 healthy volunteers after a single administration of etizolam at two different dosages (0.25 mg or 1.00 mg) in comparison to placebo. The test results showed that etizolam at 0.25 mg and 1.00 mg had no significant effect on vigilance, short term memory, psychomotor coordination or speed in decision making. Differently, abuse of etizolam to obtain the euphoric effects at presumably high dosages or in combination with other psychoactive substances could be fatal. The negligible side effects on mental and behavioral function demonstrated by this study, could represent an incitement to abuse, which can be strongly discouraged with correct information on differences between its correct use and its misuse. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.