INTRODUCTION: To describe benzodiazepine use in the adult population from Santiago, Chile and attempt to establish associations with different sociodemographic and medical variables. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study whose sampling frame was the adult population, aged 16 to 64 years (n = 3,237,286). The sampling strategy was probabilistic, poly-stage and stratified. RESULTS: A total of 3,870 persons were interviewed. Prevalence of benzodiazepine use was 3.84 %. Statistically significant associations were found between benzodiazepine use and gender, age, marital status, income, presence of a common mental disorder and health perception. DISCUSSION: Training of the general practitioner to regulate the use of benzodiazepine is necessary.