What's a good downer?

April 6, 2009 10:03 PM

What's the modern equivalent of Seconal?

I need to know for a play I'm working on. One of the characters uses Seconal, recreationally as a downer.

What would he use today?

posted by miles1972 to society & culture (10 comments total)

Valium/Xanax
posted by torquemaniac at 10:07 PM on April 6

Any benzodiazepine would do, but I suspect that Xanax and Valium are the ones most common in recreational use.
posted by thisjax at 10:10 PM on April 6

Xanax. In my neighborhood, Xanax has the street name "sticks" or "stix" and sells for about $10/.25mg pill. Yes, a quarter of a milligram for $10!
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 10:23 PM on April 6

More likely to be Valium for an older character (say 40's & up), Xanax for a character younger than that.
posted by torquemaniac at 10:24 PM on April 6

What about Atavan? That's very relaxing in decent dosages, plus it's got some just wicked withdrawal effects (including seizures).
posted by Netzapper at 11:08 PM on April 6

Halcion
Ambien

(barbiturates are still around, including Seconal, I think)
posted by caddis at 11:12 PM on April 6

Xanax is the most popular, but Valium and Ativan would also be reasonable and recognizable. Halcion is rarely ever used, at least in the US. Seconal and other barbiturates are still on the market, they just aren't much used as anxiolytics anymore.
posted by little e at 12:48 AM on April 7

Xanax has the street name "sticks" or "stix" and sells for about $10/.25mg pill. Yes, a quarter of a milligram for $10!

This is absolutely nuts. That would be $80 per "stick." No one in their right mind would shell out eighty bucks for a damn bar.

People still take barbiturates for fun, including Seconal. Unless your character is a pretty well-versed drug user, though, I'd agree that Benzodiazepines are probably the way to go.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:20 AM on April 7

From what I hear from my Xanax-popping cousin, another nickname/street name (apparently for the full pills) is "bars."
posted by fructose at 7:22 AM on April 7

Definitely xanax. Here's an interesting pharmacological effect that you might be able to use in the plot. It can cause memory loss. This is actually used clinically for patients who will undergo a procedure that could be painful. They're given xanax beforehand and not only does it alleviate anxiety, it makes the person less likely to remember the procedure. Anecdotally, I've heard from a couple of people who did stuff they didn't remember after taking xanax. They didn't do anything wildly out of character, they just had zero memory of it after the event.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:39 AM on April 7