Is Ambien the new crack?

If I didn't know better, I would think Ambien was some form of crack. In all my years as a pharmacist I have never seen a sleep aid that hooks people the way this one does. When Ambien came out back in the 90's, a sales rep. claimed it was better than the benzodiazepines (i.e. Valium and Xanax) because it was not addicting-- really. If Ambien is not addicting then I'm a monkey's uncle.

The number of people that request early refills on Ambien blows my mind. I don't care what store or what neighborhood I work, there is going to be at least one or two customers requesting an early refill on it. Moreover, they all are willing to pay full price for it. If denied the refill, they become very hostile.

The last time I worked, a customer wanted to get her refill almost 2 weeks early. When I asked if she was taking more than what was prescribed she replied rather nonchalantly, "yes". I asked if the doctors told her to do that. She responded "no. I'll just pay for them." I, of course, refused the refill and she was not happy.

Ambien, in my opinion, is a bad drug. The side effects are terrible.  Some of these adverse reactions include, worsening depression symptoms,  suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, mania, amnesia, sleep driving, sleep eating, having sexing while sleeping and aggressive behavior.

It is indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia. Prescribing it as a chronic medication is not good medical practice (my opinion).  Doctors who prescribe Ambien as such, set their patients up for dependency and something as natural as sleep becomes impossible to attain without the drug.