A comparison of the acute behavioral effects of triazolam and temazepam in normal volunteers.

Two experiments were conducted to assess the acute behavioral effects of triazolam and temazepam in healthy, non-drug abusing men in double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trials, where all subjects received all possible doses. These drugs were compared to examine allegations that triazolam produces greater behavioral impairment than temazepam. Drug effects were assessed during 4-h sessions using measures of recall, learning, psychomotor performance, and subject ratings assessing drug effects and abuse potential. In experiment 1, triazolam (0.25 and 0.5 mg/70 kg) produced greater behavioral impairment than temazepam (15 and 30 mg/70 kg). However, triazolam also produced greater increases than temazepam in subject ratings of drug strength, drunkenness and sleepiness, suggesting the dose ranges compared may not have been clinically equivalent. Experiment 2 was conducted to assess whether a higher dose of temazepam than tested in experiment 1 would produce levels of behavioral impairment comparable to those observed with triazolam in experiment 1. In experiment 2, the temazepam dose was increased to 60 mg/70 kg while the triazolam dose was 0.5 mg/70 kg which was the highest dose tested in experiment 1. These doses produced comparable increases in subject ratings of drug strength, drunkenness and sleepiness, but temazepam produced significantly more behavioral disruption than triazolam. These findings do not support the position that triazolam produces greater behavioral impairment than temazepam, and may even suggest that across a wide range of doses triazolam is less disruptive than temazepam.