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| Miscellaneous
Barbiturates | | |
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| Synonyms for
Barbiturates in General: Sleeping Pills |
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| Street Names for
Barbiturates in General: Barbs, Downers |
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| Synonyms, Drug
Classes, Trade Names, and Street Names for Individual
Barbiturates: See table below. |
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| Description: The barbiturates are central
nervous system (CNS) depressants derived from barbituric acid.
They were once commonly prescribed for the treatment of anxiety and
insomnia and are often referred to as "sleeping pills". Barbiturates
are commonly divided into groups based on the onset and duration of
their action. The intermediate and short-acting barbiturates are the
categories most commonly abused, most notably Seconal
(secobarbital) and Tuinal (secobarbital with
amobarbital). Long-acting barbiturates have an onset of action
of 30 to 60 minutes and a duration of action of 6 to 8 hours.
Examples of long-acting barbiturates are phenobarbital and
barbital. Their slow onset of action discourages their abuse.
The intermediate-acting barbiturates have an onset of action of 15
to 30 minutes and a duration of action of 4 to 6 hours. Examples of
intermediate-acting barbiturates are amobarbital,
butabarbital, and Tuinal. The short-acting barbiturates
have an onset of action of 10 to 15 minutes and have a duration of
action of 2 to 4 hours. Examples of short-acting barbiturates are
secobarbital and pentobarbital. The ultra-short-acting
barbiturates have an onset of action of 0 to 45 seconds and a
duration of action 15 minutes to 3 hours. These are barbiturates
used as anesthetics. Their effects are generally felt within one
minute of intravenous administration. Examples of ultra short-acting
barbiturates are thiopenthal sodium, hexobarbital, and
methohexital. The rapid onset and brief duration of action
practically precludes the use of ultra-short-acting barbiturates in
the street environment. Concern about the addiction potential of
barbiturates and the ever-increasing numbers of fatalities
associated with them led to the development of alternative
medications. With the discovery of a safer alternative, the
benzodiazepines, the medicinal use of barbiturates for treating
anxiety and insomnia has been greatly reduced since the 1970s.
Nevertheless, phenobarbital is still widely used as an
anticonvulsant to control epilepsy and other barbiturates are used
to induce and maintain surgical anesthesia and occasionally to treat
depression. |
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| Excretion:
Excretion patterns differ greatly among the barbiturates. In
general, short-acting barbiturates are excreted in the urine as
metabolites, while long-acting barbiturates primarily appear
unchanged. |
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| Note: Below list is not all-inclusive.
Some trade names may no longer be in production. |
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Barbiturate
Examples |
Synonyms |
Drug Class |
Trade Names |
Street Names |
| Allobarbital |
|
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
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| Alphenal |
Phenallymal |
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
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| Amobarbital |
|
Anticonvulsant,
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Amytal, Tuinal
(Secobarbital
with
Amobarbital) |
Blue Heavens,
Christmas Trees
(Tuinal),
Rainbows
(Tuinal), Tooies (Tuinal) |
| Aprobarbital |
|
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Alurate |
|
| Barbital |
|
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Veronal |
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| Butabarbital |
|
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Barbased, Busodium,
Butalan, Butisol,
Sarisol No.
2 |
Bute, Stoppers |
| Butalbital |
Allybarbital |
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
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| Butethal |
Butobarbital |
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
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| Pentobarbital |
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Anticonvulsant,
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Ancalixir, Nembutal,
Nova
Rectal,
Novopentobarb |
Nembies,
Yellow Jackets |
| Phenobarbital |
|
Anticonvulsant,
Antihyperbilirubinemic,
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Barbita, Luminal,
Solfoton |
Phennies |
| Secobarbital |
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Anticonvulsant,
CNS
Depressant,
Sedative-hypnotic |
Seconal,
Novosecobarb,
Tuinal (Secobarbital
with
Amobarbital) |
Christmas Trees
(Tuinal), Rainbows
(Tuinal), Red
Birds,
Seggies, Red Devils,
Reds, Tooies (Tuinal) |
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