Sixty patients being treated for anxiety in a primary care facility received (double-blind) buspirone, the benzodiazepine drug clobazam, or placebo for 3 weeks. The mean daily dose at the end of treatment was 23 mg for buspirone and 21 mg for clobazam. Patients were assessed weekly using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety and Clinical Global Impression scale. Both active treatments produced significant improvement in anxiety symptoms compared with placebo as early as the first week of treatment, and there was progressive improvement over the subsequent 2 weeks. Response to buspirone was equally favorable in anxious patients who experienced depressive symptomatology.