Evie Aitcheson began taking clonazepam in 2008 to treat her anxiety and panic attacks.

After 10 years of using benzodiazepines on a daily basis, Evie Aitcheson wants to stop others going through what she calls "hell on earth".

Aitcheson has launched a petition calling on the Government to ban long-term use of the class of drugs, which have a relaxing and calming effect, in a bid to stop addiction and harm.

Aitcheson was prescribed clonazepam, a tranquiliser, in 2008 to treat her anxiety and panic attacks.

She said she was told by her doctor to take it twice a day, every day, and wasn't made aware of the drug's side effects or its highly addictive nature.

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"I was an involuntary drug addict," Aitcheson said.

Supplied Aitcheson spent time living in Japan and working as a teacher while on clonazepam.

"When I visited a psychiatrist they were shocked I had been taking it for so long and made me come off cold turkey, but I was already addicted."

Without clonazepam, Aitcheson began to experience insomnia, hallucinations, pain, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and heart palpitations.

She sought treatment in Auckland and was told to attend Narcotics Anonymous.

"I needed to be weaned off the drug slowly as I was feeling so awful without them that I started seeking them out illegally," she said.

"Eventually I contacted Community Alcohol and Drug services (CADS) and they helped wean me off in a slower way."

Aitcheson now took one quarter of a clonazepam tablet each day and hoped she would be able to stop taking the drug completely this year.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Green party MP Chlöe Swarbrick will present the petition to Parliament in February.

"I don't want anyone else to experience what I did and I think we need to regulate these prescriptions better," she said.

"I shouldn't have been taking clonazepam for more than a few weeks. I was very naive at the time and I'm really angry about it now."

In some cases Aitcheson said she could see how benzodiazepines could be helpful, so she didn't want to see a blanket ban on the drugs – "but for mental health issues in the long term, there [are] so many other meds that are far less harmful".

Information from MedSafe said benzodiazepines were prescribed to treat a wide range of conditions including severe anxiety, sleep problems and seizures.

They were usually prescribed for only a short period of time if other treatment wasn't working, and using them for longer than two to four weeks was not recommended.

Being on clonazepam made Aitcheson feel "completely numb", she said.

"Coming off them felt like I was being exposed to the world again but for a long time, I was a mess. During the withdrawals, it felt like fluid was running over my brain.

"During my years on the drug I did still manage to achieve a lot of things – I got three degrees and my masters, as well as living in Japan for work, but I feel like a lot of my memories are blurry and I feel robbed of being able to live in reality."

She said she would like to see patients given consent forms before being prescribed benzodiazepines, stating they were aware of the risks and side effects.

​Aitcheson's petition would be presented to Parliament by Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick in February.

"Evie has had an awful personal experience which has spurred her to act and I applaud her for her courage and tenacity bringing the conversation forward," Swarbrick said.

MedSafe group manager Chris James said he could not comment on the issue as MedSafe might be involved in providing advice to Parliament on the petition.

However, "it's important to note that prescribing medicines is a clinical decision made by a clinician for the person under their care", he said.