How and why people co-use benzos/z-drugs and opioids

Drugs Research Network Scotland researchers found that everyone they spoke to who co-used opioids and benzodiazepines/z-drugs also used other drugs like stimulants (cocaine) and alcohol. Most had overdosed or been unconscious afterwards. Their mental health ranged from feeling anxious and depressed to psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder, often linked to trauma.