Florida practice launches free benzodiazepine tapering education site

Mark Leeds, D.O. PA has launched FloridaTaper.com, a free education site focused on benzodiazepine tapering, withdrawal and BIND, or Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction. The Fort Lauderdale medical practice is aiming the site at patients, families and clinicians dealing with slow dose reductions.

The site enters a high-stakes area of mental health care: stopping or reducing psychiatric medications can be difficult, and the pace of a taper can affect patient safety. For people who have taken benzodiazepines long term, clearer information can shape whether withdrawal is recognized and managed as a medication-related problem.

The practice said the site includes more than 60 physician-written articles and is adding new articles daily. Its coverage includes slow and hyperbolic tapering, tolerance withdrawal, kindling, BIND symptoms and deprescribing issues involving Z-drugs, gabapentinoids and antipsychotics.

FloridaTaper.com also includes material on informed consent in long-term prescribing and a free chat assistant that directs visitors to answers based on the site’s own content. The practice says the educational material is informed by the Ashton Manual and the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines.

One of the site’s central themes is the difference between physical dependence and addiction. The practice says long-term benzodiazepine use commonly leads to physical dependence, a physiological adaptation, while addiction is a separate condition with different features.

That distinction carries practical consequences. Patients who are physically dependent but not addicted may be sent to detox or rehab programs built around addiction treatment, where the practice says overly fast tapering or mismatched care can cause harm.

“Patients who want to reduce or stop a benzodiazepine are too often handed a schedule that is far too fast, or no plan at all,” Dr. Mark Leeds said. “Florida Taper explains, in plain language, what a slow, individualized taper looks like and why the pace matters. It is the resource I wish every patient and prescriber had before the first dose reduction.”

Leeds leads the practice, which focuses on benzodiazepine and psychiatric medication tapering through slow, individualized dose reductions. He also provides concierge telemedicine consultations to patients in Florida, hosts The Rehab Podcast on the Mental Health News Radio Network and YouTube, and serves on the medical advisory board of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition.

The launch adds a patient-facing education channel to a field where guidance can vary widely across clinical settings. The practice is also distributing tapering-related material through major social media platforms as part of its broader Florida benzodiazepine tapering education effort.

FloridaTaper.com is educational and is not a substitute for individual medical care. The practice advises readers not to change prescribed medications without supervision from a qualified physician.