Glad you have found something that takes the edge off your depression and anxiety, so important. No, you are not addicted to these medicines; they are prescribed and you take them exactly as directed, never more than prescribed. However, if you have been taking clonazepam daily or nearly so for five years, you are dependent, meaning your brain and body now need them to function and feel well, without which you would have a withdrawal reaction, hopefully the slow taper your nurses have taught you about will minimize withdrawal symptoms, if it comes to that. That's not addiction, that's your body adjusting to not having them in your system at previous levels, and it is difficult, whether or not you have addictive tendencies. I don't have addictive tendencies, and yet it seems I am irreversibly dependent, think of it as a brain injury, I've taken the drug for so long that it seems to have irreversibly altered brain structures, so that even a very slow taper is unbearable. Not everyone experiences that, only a certain percentage, and it has nothing to do with addictive personalities. Not sure who you're responding to about making it illegal to take them, but that's not going to happen, rest easy. What does happen is that some docs who prescribe them decide they want you off them, or a new doc who doesn't support their use will inherit you, and insist you come off them - that's what happened to me. It's been a very rough road that at times I thought I would not survive. Some have an easier time, some a harder time and for some it is just impossible to discontinue.
I was allowed stay on them when a compassionate new PCP found me in a very bad way due to extended withdrawal (2 years and counting), but messing with doses like that definitely changed the way they work for me. I tell my doc I got the benzo back, but I didn't get ME back. My life bears no resemblance to the one I had before a forced taper - this should NEVER be done. Talk to patients about discontinuing, suggest, encourage, but never force. Good doctors know this from experience, but it is not taught in med school, only that they are poison and that getting off them can be "worse than heroin withdrawal", a favorite line they learned. My fresh out of college PCP learned a lot about difficult benzo withdrawal, and she learned it at my expense. Having been through what I have, I believe it is irresponsible for any doctor to put a patient on benzos for daily long term use, for which they were never intended. However, once that bridge has been crossed, it is inhumane to reverse course once patient has taken them this way for years and is profoundly dependent. My opinion only, based on experience. Wish you the best.