Edit the following text (below) to compose a letter to your State Representative. Don’t forget to delete these instructions before sending your sample letter. You can copy and paste the sample letter below.
Once you have found your state rep, personalize the sample letter by changing anything in red font to your own situation and/or relevant information.
Please do not write a very long, detailed account of your BZD injury or illness for your State Representative, as their time is very limited and it will detract from the purpose of contacting them, which is to have them file a resolution in your state.
FYI, State legislature happening in:
Sample Letter One:
Hello Representative [add your rep's name],
I am grateful to be in your district and to continue to be represented by you. I am contacting you for the purpose of requesting that you file a resolution recognizing ‘World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day’ (aka W-BAD), which occurs on July 11 of each year. W-BAD is a grassroots organization whose purpose is to bring awareness globally to medical professionals and the general public about the risks, harms, and dangers caused by taken-as-prescribed benzodiazepines. There are many thousands of people suffering under the radar all over the world from iatrogenic (caused by a doctor or medicine) illness from taking benzodiazepines exactly as directed by their prescriber. [Like thousands of others, I was completely mentally and physically disabled after taking a benzodiazepine as prescribed by my doctor. Add a brief summary, if you’d like, here about your prescribed benzodiazepine injury experience]
[Utah is one of the highest if not the highest consumer per capita of benzodiazepines and nonbenzodiazepines (or Z-drugs - like Ambien, Lunesta, Intermezzo, et. al.)] I have dedicated myself to raising awareness about the horrific suffering these drugs can cause when manufacturer guidelines are ignored and they are prescribed long-term (past the recommended 2-4 weeks ). Many members of my own benzodiazepine injury support community have approached me and shared with me their own heartbreaking experiences with this class of drugs. The stories are all similar: these drugs were prescribed far longer than recommended, there was a medically negligent lack of informed consent given about the risks/dangers by their prescriber (GP, Psychiatrist, PA, NP, etc). Because of this lack of informed consent, they were not forewarned and had no idea they were taking a dangerous physical dependence-causing drug much longer than experts and guidelines say it should be taken or how dangerous the withdrawal syndrome could be. And most tragic of all, there is an almost universal reporting of total loss by these victims - loss of jobs, homes, careers, marriages, friends, family, ability to participate in social events or to exercise, and sometimes their lives (the withdrawal syndrome can be so severe many commit suicide in the face of it) - due to the crippling withdrawal effects discontinuing the drugs cause, which can persist for many months and often years post-drug cessation.
Please do not let the current apathy that has persisted for sixty years around this so-serious issue persist; instead please help me to save others from this completely preventable tragedy by filing a resolution in [insert your state] to acknowledge ‘World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day’. Permit me to provide you with an example of a resolution that was filed in Massachusetts:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF WORLD BENZODIAZEPINE AWARENESS DAY
WHEREAS, THE FIRST ANNUAL WORLD BENZODIAZEPINE AWARENESS DAY IS ON JULY 11, 2016; AND
WHEREAS, THE DATE OF JULY 11TH WAS CHOSEN TO HONOR THE BIRTHDAY OF PROFESSOR HEATHER ASHTON OF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY FOR HER SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO SAFE WITHDRAWAL FROM BENZODIAZEPINES, AND;
WHEREAS, WORLD BENZODIAZEPINE AWARENESS DAY WAS ESTABLISHED TO PROVIDE VICTIMS OF IRRESPONSIBLE PRESCRIBING PRACTICES AS A MEANS TO UNIFY, AND;
WHEREAS, THE BENZODIAZEPINE VICTIM COMMUNITY HAS ASKED FOR CONSISTENT REGULATIONS AND SAFE PRACTICE METHODS FOR PRESCRIBING BENZODIAZEPINES; AND
WHEREAS, WORLD BENZODIAZEPINE AWARENESS DAY SETS OUT TO ELIMINATE THE STIGMA SURROUNDING WITHDRAWAL FROM BENZODIAZEPINES; THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ACKNOWLEDGE THE FIRST ANNUAL WORLD BENZODIAZEPINE AWARENESS DAY; AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, THAT A COPY OF THESE RESOLUTIONS BE FORWARDED BY THE CLERK OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO EDWIN LORENZANA
Here is a link to a video which explains in about 13 minutes time what ‘World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day’ is and why change is so desperately needed by global governing bodies to regulate these dangerous drugs.World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day Explainer Video
Other videos, if time allows, can be viewed on the W-BAD YouTube Channel where some of the victims detail their harrowing experiences with these taken-as-prescribed drugs:
World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day’s website: worldbenzoday.org
If it is of interest to you, there has been a Bill filed in Massachusetts regarding this very issue (I would love to see a similar Bill filed here in insert your state, as it is so needed.)
Thank you so much for your time and consideration of this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Respectively,
[Your name]
[Location]
[Contact information - e.g., Email, phone number, address, etc.]
