The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) participated in the development of an important new clinical practice guideline released in 2025—The Joint Clinical Practice Guideline on Benzodiazepine Tapering: Considerations when Benzodiazepine Risks Outweigh Benefits. Many other professional organizations also participated in the development of this guideline, including the American Psychiatric Association. This consensus makes this guideline particularly important.
Here is the link to the ASAM homepage for this guideline.
A PDF of the guideline can be freely downloaded at this link.
But the PDF is 234 pages long, so we are glad that a short “Provider Pocket Guide” (29 small pages) for the guideline has also been made available. This pocket guide is available for reading on the Internet free of cost at this link. A print version of the pocket guide can be purchased for $11.95 at this link.
A six-page guide is also available to download free of cost at the following link: How To Help Your Patients Taper From Benzodiazepines
Many other resources are also available through the ASAM homepage for this guideline.
What is the purpose of this guideline?
The guideline aims to provide information and guidance that is “evidence-informed” and for which there is consensus to help clinicians with the following:
1. For a particular patient, determine whether it is appropriate to taper the benzodiazepine the patient has been on.
2. How to taper benzodiazepines.
To whom is it applicable?
The guideline notes that it is applicable to “adult patients who have been taking BZDs regularly and may be at risk for physical dependence” (emphasis in red added by us).
It also notes that “physical dependence is an expected outcome associated with BZD use and is distinct from BZD use disorder. Additional considerations for patients with substance use disorder (SUD) are discussed separately in the section titled Patients with Benzodiazepine and Other Substance Use Disorders” (emphasis in red added by us).
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References
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