About this study

We are collecting stories from young people who have had experiences with non-prescription benzodiazepine use in Scotland.

Benzodiazepines (benzos) are a class of depressant drugs sometimes called vallies, xans, blues, diazepam, downers, etizolam, Etizzy, MSJ, jellies, bars, or bromazolam.

If you are a young person between the ages of 16–30 years old in Scotland, we would love to hear your story.

With your consent, your anonymous stories will appear on the Benzo Research Project website. Excerpts may be shared on social media to highlight the issues involved. We may also use the stories to draw attention to the Benzo Research Project campaign and seek support for it.

As part of our advocacy and harm reduction work, we are also interested in analysing the content of the stories which are shared on the platform. This research will help us to better understand people’s experiences who use benzos recreationally, and provide insight to improve education, support and policy in Scotland. If you would like to share your story, please fill out the form below.


Am I eligible to participate?

We would love to hear your story if you:
  • are between the ages of 16 and 30 years old at the time of submission;
  • have taken non-prescription* benzodiazepines in the past year;
  • and live in Scotland, identify as Scottish, or have worked or studied in Scotland in the past year.

What do we mean by 'non-prescription' benzo use?

In the context of this project, we are referring to taking benzodiazepines outside of the medicinal purposes they are prescribed for. This includes all forms of benzo usage that hasn’t been directly prescribed to you by a doctor.

This might include:
  • self-medicating with them for anxiety,
  • using them with friends or on a night out,
  • or you may have been prescribed them for medicinal purposes but are using them for enjoyment.
We would very much like to hear from people aged 16–30. What is key is that we do not include exclusively medically prescribed benzos in our testimony criteria. If you have any queries, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram, or via email: research@brp.org.uk

You are being invited to take part in some research. Before you decide whether or not to participate, it is important for you to understand why the research is being conducted and what it will involve. Please read the following information carefully.

1. What is the purpose of the research?
The purpose of our research is to collect stories of young people who have experienced non-medical, non-prescription benzo use to better understand your experiences. We want to listen to your lived and learned knowledge and advocate for changes that need to be made in the support, information and education around benzos for young people in Scotland. We feel there is a gap in knowledge and understanding of Scottish young people's experiences, and want to ensure your voice is heard.

2. Who is carrying out the research?
We are the Benzo Research Project (BRP), a grassroots small charity run by young people volunteering from across the globe, including those who have lived/living experience of taking drugs. With this research, we aim to improve the lives of young people who take benzos in Scotland. We work to promote harm reduction, advocacy and safety for young people who take benzos, without stigma.

This project is carried out with support from Crew2000, a Scottish harm reduction charity based in Edinburgh, under the supervision of Dr. Karenza Moore, a Reader in Sociology and experienced drugs researcher at Newcastle University. The research has been approved by Newcastle University Research Ethics Committee (ref. 65006).

3. What happens if I agree to take part?
Once you have read this information, if you agree to participate in the research you will be shown a series of question prompts, asking about your experiences of benzo use. After completing this, you will be asked some optional questions about your age, gender and the city/town you are closest to. Upon completion and submission of your testimony, you will be shown a bit more information about the research, how you could contribute further, and provided with contacts for support services in case the content of your submission was upsetting.

4. Are there any risks associated with taking part?
Participating in the research may pose a risk to your mental health if you find talking about your experiences of benzo taking upsetting, triggering, or if revisiting events of the past brings up bad memories. If this occurs, before, during or after writing your submission, please use the support resources and helplines recommended on the final page of submission to seek support. You are also encouraged to only share what you are comfortable with, with the reassurance that all submissions are anonymous.

5. Data Protection and Confidentiality
All testimony data will be collected through a webform on our website (https://brp.org.uk) and sent end-to-end encrypted to a secure SQL database on Cloudflare, accessible only by the Project Lead. Any personal/identifying information will be removed, and consenting participants’ anonymous testimonies will be published on our website. At the end of the data collection period, all data will be transferred to our password-protected Google Drive for analysis.

All anonymised data will be stored and backed up on a password-protected online drive, avoiding the loss, misuse, alteration or destruction of said data. It will not be permitted to download any research data to a personal computer for long-term storage. The open testimonial submissions will be accessible only by the Supervisor, Project Lead, Research Assistants and the Crew representative(s).

Furthermore, third-parties authorised to access the research data collected by the BRP will only occur upon approval by the Trustee Board, and once a valid data sharing agreement is put in place between the BRP and the third party organisation. Furthermore, sharing research data to external individuals will be prohibited.

External research data sharing will be minimised, and only conducted if there is not a suitable alternative. Alternatives to sharing BRP datasets may include; presenting key or emerging findings in a virtual meeting to a third party representative; sharing a confidential preliminary report detailing top-level or relevant insights from data analysis, or sharing relevant previous publications by the BRP or other reputable sources.

6. What will happen to the information I provide?
Our project lead (aj@brp.org.uk) will anonymise the information you have shared, so no one can identify that it was you who submitted it, in order to protect your privacy. The anonymised testimony will be kept on a secure online drive, and will be analysed by our research assistants alongside the other testimony submissions. Anonymised testimonies from consenting participants will be shared on our story-sharing platform here: brp.org.uk/testimonies

7. Is participation voluntary and what if I wish to later withdraw?
Participation is completely voluntary and you do not have to participate in this research if you do not wish to do so. If you wish to withdraw the information you provide, you can do this at any time before submitting by leaving the website. Withdrawing before submission will have no negative consequences. Unfortunately, due to the anonymous nature of the study, we are unable to withdraw your testimony after you submit.

8. Data Protection Privacy Notice
How long will your information be held?
Following Newcastle University guidance, the data will be kept in the form of text documents (.docx) for use by the team of researchers for a period of up to 10 years after the end of research.

What are your rights? You have a right to access your personal information, to object to the processing of your personal information, to rectify, to erase, to restrict and to port your personal information.

Please visit the University Data Protection webpages for further information in relation to your rights. Any requests or objections should be made in writing to the University Data Protection Officer: ​​ Executive Office, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU. Email: rec-man@ncl.ac.uk

How to make a complaint
If you would like to make a complaint, please contact the Trustee Board: trustees@brp.org.uk

9. What if I have other questions? If you have further questions about this study, please do not hesitate to contact us: research@brp.org.uk






Your Story

Your story can take any form you’d like, but we have included some questions as a starting point, or loose guide for your submission. It would really help us to know whether you are still using benzos, or how long you were taking them for.

Some questions to consider:
  • Could you share your experiences with taking benzos? These could be positive, negative and/or neutral.
  • What are your motivations for taking benzos? Could you describe a typical situation where you have taken benzos?
  • What are the most common effects you experience when taking benzos? These might be physical or mental. How have these changed since you first took a benzo?
  • Have you ever sought support for benzo use or considered it? If so, what did that support look like to you?
  • What sort of drug or mental health support from local youth services would you find useful?
  • What was your experience of drug education, if any, at school? How did this affect your relationship with benzos?
  • How do you get your information about benzos? What actions, if any, have you taken after gaining this information?



Optional demographics
The boxes below on demographic information are optional, which would enhance the quality of our research. This information will only be used for research purposes:






Consent:




Please make sure you have read and understand the participant information before submitting.