Valium are "soft-pressed" pills, meaning that when swalowed whole, they disintegrate in stomache within minutes. Although some people sniff them, I've tried them both ways and prefer eating them. I've always liked Valium over other Benzos. It doesn't tend to induce as much drowsiness as, say, Xanax or Ativan. However, like others have said, tolerance builds quickly and the dt's (detoxing) from Benzos are worst than dt's from opiates. 1 out of 100 opiate users die from quitting opi's cold-turkey. 1 out of 10 people die from quitting Benzos cold-turkey. Plus Benzo dt's can last over a month and upto 3 months! The withdrawls themselves are enough to keep me away.