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Pharmacology/Drug Effects Pharmacology/Drug Effects

Rohypnol is a benzodiazepine used as a sleep medication. It comes in both tablet and suppository dosage form with strengths of either 0.5 or 1 mg. It was developed specifically for sleep, as it has a very rapid onset and long duration. Rohypnol binds nonspecifically to benzodiazepine receptors BNZ1 and BNZ2, thus enhancing the effects of GABA, resulting in a hyper-polarized cell membrane that cannot excite the cell further. The half-life of Rohypnol is over 14 hours, and it has an active metabolite, thus increasing its duration even more.

Rohypnol slows down the functioning of the CNS, so patients taking it will feel drowsiness, decreased anxiety, impaired judgement and mental functioning, confusion, aggression. Rohypnol is so potent that patients can often experience amnesia and pharmacological hypnotic sleep.