DrugBuyers.Com: Long-Term vs Short-Term Benzos

I've done a lot of research (and experimentation) with Benzodiazepines. It seems widely agreed upon that to come off long-term, consistent usage of these drugs you need to be on a gradually decreasing dose of long-term acting form like Valium (Diazepam) or Klonopin (clonazepam). These have half life typically 3-5 times those of the short-term acting benzos like Xanax (Alprazolam) and Ativan (Lorazepam).

It is my understanding that the brain will gradually compensate when using these drugs consistently for the long term. Therefore, it would seem to me that the best strategy for taking these drugs would be to minimize the amount of compensation the brain takes by keeping the level of the drug in your system to a minimum. This would lead me to conclude to use the short-acting versions once a day at most to avoid build-up in the system which would encourage the brain to compensate as opposed to using the long-term acting drugs.

I realize that of the Xanax and Lorazepam users out there, the majority are probably taking it 2-3 times a day which is a different matter. I also acknowledge there is a significant group that take them infrequently on an as needed basis. Everyone is different.

But in general, however, I've seen consenus more than once that the longer acting Benzos are 'safer' (whatever that means). I take it to mean, they are safer to take in the event your supply runs out and you cannot get any more of the drug, or you are separated from the drugs for some reason. The longer-acting would still have withdrawl effects, but less pronounced and less risk of seizure than unexpectedly having to go cold turkey after taking Xanax or Ativan 2-3 times a day for a couple months.

But it would seem to me, the best regimen would be to take the short-acting 1-2 times a day MAX and avoid the build-up that you would get taking Valium or Klonopin 1-2 times a day. The goal is to keep the levels of the drugs in your system as low as possible over the long term. Repeat usage of the long-term acting benzos are going to pile up to a rather large concentration in your system.

So my conclusion so far is the best way to take these drugs is to use short-term benzos on an as-needed basis, hopefully not exceeding 1 dose per day (or 2 very low doses). Then of course when you go to come off these drugs you switch to a diminishing dose of the long-term acting.

This goes against what a lot of people have said is that the long-term acting are simply the 'safer' way to go from the start. This doesn't makes sense to me as I think in typical dosage patterns they have a much higher chance of causing the brain to compensate and build up resistance to the drug. Am I making sense?