The Emergence of Novel Benzodiazepines in Australia, Evidence, Alerts, Clinical Management and Harm Reduction—A Narrative Review
NBZs were consistently detected across Australian coronial, toxicological, forensic and drug checking data sources from 2020 to 2025. Their emergence represents a public health concern, worthy of ongoing attention and response.
Authors
- Kathryn Fletcher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8423-8651)
- Cameron Francis
- Rachel Sutherland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5337-1751)
- Jennifer Schumann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8870-6272)
- Brendan Clifford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9178-9013)
- Nadine Ezard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7495-8305)
- Krista J. Siefried (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6534-3325)
- Amy Peacock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5705-2026)
- Erica Franklin
- Liam Acheson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2343-5504)
- Monica Jane Barratt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1015-9379)
- Jack Freestone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7503-7540)
- Hope Macdonald
- Stassi Kypri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9332-6679)
Institutions
- Harold Washington College (US)
- New South Wales Department of Health (AU)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne (AU)
- St Vincent's Hospital Sydney (AU)
- Analysis and Testing Centre (CN)
- Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (AU)
- National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (AU)
- Centre for Social Justice (GB)
- Monash University (AU)
- RMIT University (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Drug and Alcohol Review
- Published
- 2025-12-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.70086
- Primary Topic
- Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00