Lady Macbeth wanting to purge a stain Benzodiazepines are a class of medicines that are as widely used as they are frequently criticized. As a class they have become stained largely as a result of the decades-long opiate crisis and the association of benzodiazepines with addiction. For the purpose of discussion, I regard a stain as a blemish, something that is not essential to the inherent properties of the thing that is stained. Stains are ugly, properties are interesting