Applicable to: United Kingdom

Gilvarry and Schifano (2003) point out that the very properties, which make buprenorphine an attractive treatment option (lower dependence, milder withdrawal symptoms and longer action), also make it attractive to the street market. As a drug of abuse, buprenorphine has been sniffed, snorted, inhaled, smoked and injected (see Ghodse 1987). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a wave of buprenorphine misuse through injecting was reported in Scotland (Sakol et al. 1989; Morrison 1989; Hammersley et al. 1990; Lavelle et al. 1991) and to a lesser extent, in the North of England (Strang 1985; Strang 1991). Abuse was also reported in many European countries and so in 1989, it became a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, following the UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs’ (UNCND) requirement in 1989 that stricter controls be imposed. Subsequently, a significant drop in abuse was reported (Stewart 1991; Forsyth et al. 1993), although abuse continued in Glasgow until a voluntary ban on its prescribing to known users by Glasgow GPs in 1992 (Hutchinson et al. 2000).

References
Forsyth, A., Farquhar, D., Gemmell, M., Shewan, D. and Davies, J.B. (1993). The dual use of opioids and temazepam by drug injectors in Glasgow (Scotland). Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 32 (3): 277-80.

Ghodse, A.H. (1987). Analysis of epidemiological data on agonist-antagonist analgesics. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 20: 375-83.

Gilvarry, E. and Schifano, F. (2003). Medical use of buprenorphine in the UK. Report to the United Nations.

Hammersley, R., Lavelle, T. and Forsyth, A. (1990). Buprenorphine and temazepam - abuse. British Journal of Addiction. 85: 301-303.

Hutchinson, S.J., Taylor, A., Gruer, L., Barr, C., Mills, C., Elliot, L., et al. (2000). One-year follow-up of opiate injectors treated with oral methadone in a GP-centred programme. Addiction. 95: 1055-68.

Lavelle. T.L., Hammersley, R. and Forsyth, A. (1991). The use of buprenorphine and temazepam by drug injectors. Journal of Addictive Diseases. 10: 5-14.

Morrison, V. (1989). Psychoactive substance use and related behaviours of 135 regular illicit drug users in Scotland. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 23: 95-101.

Stewart, M. (1991). Effect of scheduling of buprenorphine (Temgesic) on drug abuse patterns in Glasgow. British Medical Journal. 302: 969.

Strang, J. (1985). Abuse of buprenorphine. Lancet. 2: 725.

Related glossary entries
Reporting of buprenorphine abuse