detailed information on Nimetazepam

Nimetazepam (marketed under brand name Erimin) is an intermediate-acting hypnotic drug which is a benzodiazepine derivative. It was first synthesized by a team at Hoffmann-La Roche in 1962. It possesses hypnotic, anxiolytic, sedative, and skeletal muscle relaxant properties. Nimetazepam is also an anticonvulsant. It is sold in 5 mg tablets known as Erimin. It is generally prescribed for the treatment of short-term severe insomnia in patients who have difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep. And it's epecially used for people who has a short-term severe or debilitating insomnia .
In the following part, it's about the introduction about this medical drug.
Since its appearance in illicit drug markets in Malaysia in the mid-1980’s, the benzodiazepine nimetazepam has become the most commonly abused sedative in the country (midazolam and triazolam are the (distant) second and third most abused sedatives). The popularity of nimetazepam is due in part to its wide availability and relatively low price on the local black markets, and in part due to its long activity. Most of the abusers are believed to be heroin addicts, who use it as a substitute for heroin when its availability is low. More recently, however, nimetazepam has also been used as a sedative by methamphetamine abusers to help them sleep after binging (in fact, the rise in nimetazepam abuse roughly parallels the rise in methamphetamine abuse in Malaysia). The illicit use of nimetazepam is continuing to increase, as shown by the number and size of seizures made over the past few years. For example, a seizure of 310,000 tablets was made in June 2002 at a residence near the capital city (Kuala Lumpur). Tablet submissions to the Central Laboratory have been in the hundreds of thousands for each of the three years 2002 - 2004. Similar abuse of nimetazepam has been reported in neighboring countries.

The two primary forms of nimetazepam encountered in Malaysia are a commercial product (Erimin-5 tablets in blister packs (see Photos 1 - 2)) or Erimin-5 counterfeits, and an orange colored powder that appears to be either finely crushed tablets or the tablet mixture prior to tableting. Commercially prepared tablets nominally weigh about 170 mg and contain about 5 mg of nimetazepam each. However, as noted above, many of the Erimin-5 tablets submitted to the Narcotics Section appear to actually be counterfeit products that contain nimetazepam and/or various other benzodiazepines, notably diazepam and nitrazepam, in varying quantities.

Nimetazepam was added to the Malaysian Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 in May, 2001 and is currently the only benzodiazepine controlled in Malaysia.