‘Safe’ Z-drug sleeping tablets given to MILLIONS each year are as addictive as Valium – and they can cause crushing anxiety, flu-like effects and suicidal thoughts

Zopiclone is the so-called ‘safer’ sleeping pill dished out by doctors to millions of Britons each year.

When it was launched in the 1990s, it was touted as a user-friendly alternative to older and notoriously addictive tranquillisers.

And in the short-term, zopiclone causes few problems. Indeed, it can be a lifeline to those battling the agony of sleeplessness.