What is this?

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Does anyone know what type of medication Retan is?

Medication? Does it have anything to do with leather tanning?

I read that...but my brother has been ordering it from Argentina, the sheet in the package says it's a prescription medication. He's been headed down the wrong road for some time now, getting into drugs and drinking, and then I come across all these prescriptions for Retan, and I'm wondering if it's drug related.

If I understand Spanish well enough, Retan is an anxiolytic (anti-anxiety medication) made by Microsules Argentina. It comes in packages of 30 1-mg tablets. The active ingredient is alprazolam, which is the same as Xanax.

His package inserts say 30 2mg tablets. Is it possible this could be used as some sort of high?

> 30 2mg tablets

Well, so much for my Spanish. Damn public schools.

Alprazolam is a benzodiazepine, and benzodiazepines can be abused, although they're not as attractive as barbiturates.

Alprazolam should not be administered to individuals prone to drug abuse.

Benzodiazepines--Side Effects, Abuse Risk and Alternatives (Longo, Johnson)

It sounds like your brother is "self-medicating". It sounds like a bad idea.

Thanks for your help. I don't know what to do about him. My dad just lets everything go right over his head. I ended up finding Retan going through his room ( I know it's wrong to be snooping), but I can't help it. He just turned 18, but has been in and out of drug treatment facilities since he was 13 years old. I thought he was finally cleaning up but in the last few weeks he's been drinking again and getting high quite often and now he's getting packages in the mail daily from foreign countries.

I've always maintained that "snooping" is ok when the person is having issues with good judement and self control.I'm sorry to here about your situation.

[I agree with Unsupervised.]It's kind of good that people who can't afford American prescription prices can get drugs from other countries. It's kind of bad in that it makes them more available for abusers.It's a difficult situation. I don't know how you can force someone to want to seek help (although your brother has in the past), or to get his act together. I've been down that road with alcoholics...a very frustrating experience. Assuming your father will even recognize that there is a problem, tossing him out of the house will likely do more harm to him than good, even though he's an adult. But there's also the issue of how it affects the rest of the family.Does your brother have a job? Can he function independently?

My brother will be entering the 12th grade this September, he failed his freshman year. I don't know what ever got him started with alcohol at such a young age. There were never family problems. He said he would drink to make the pain go away. He's always been depressed. My mom and I were both on anti depressants are still are.My parents divorced about 4 years ago and my mom now lives in Florida. He lives with my dad, who is the easygoing dad who seems oblivious to anything going on around him. My brother recently began to hang out with his druggie friends again, which has started it all again I think. He has a weekend job making about $7.00 an hour, so no he can't afford to live on his own, and the fact that he still has a year of school left. My brother still hates me for catching him with drugs in his room this time a year ago. I was essentially snooping as usual and found out. I'm trying to think of a way to approach my dad, without my brother blowing up and going crazy because he found out I was snooping around again. I'm more concerned about what will happen to me if I tell my dad. My brother has a temper and so do his friends. They have all been in and out of juvenile detention and they all truly hate me for breaking up their little drug and alcohol ring a year ago. My brother is 18 and the guys he hangs out with are in their upper 20's and early thirties. It's truly pathetic, and in a way I fear for my life, if I actually get the courage to tell my dad again.

at 18, your brother needs to realise that the next stop could be real jail with all the horrors that go with it.If you fear for your own safty, you need to step back and lie low.

maybe it would be good for him to experience prison life for a bit. For some people thats what it takes to set them straight. Oblivously if the dad is easy going, he's not gonna make an issue out of it and the brother will see that he can still get away with it. I know its harsh but thats reality.