No abstract

Objective: To describe the circumstances of death and toxicological findings in all heroin‐related deaths in New South Wales in 1992. Design: Coronial files of all cases of heroin‐related deaths were reviewed. A standardised form was used to collect information on sociodemographics, history of drug use, circumstances of death, and results of toxicological analysis for each case. Results: 152 heroin‐related deaths were identified. Subjects had a mean age of 29.7 years, 82% were male, and 98% were not enrolled in a methadone treatment program at the time of their deaths. Deaths occurred in the home environment in 68% of cases and in the company of at least one other person in 58%. There was intervention before the subject's death in only 21% of cases. Two or more drug classes were detected in 71 % of subjects; alcohol was detected in 45%, with a mean blood alcohol concentration of 0.14g/100mL. Conclusions: Fatal heroin overdose is potentially preventable. Educating users about the risks of co‐administering alcohol and other depressant drugs with heroin, the comparative safety of injecting heroin in the company of others and the need to call for intervention sooner may reduce the frequency of heroin‐related deaths.

The first 7 days of MMT is a high-risk period. Inadequate clinical review of subjects' tolerance to methadone and/or subjects' use of other central nervous system (CNS) depressant drugs probably contributed to most of these cases' deaths during induction. The findings from this study reinforce the importance of a thorough drug and alcohol assessment of people seeking MMT, cautious prescribing of methadone, frequent clinical review of patients' tolerance to methadone during induction and education about the dangers of additional drug use during this period.

This research documents the existence of smoking as a popular route of administration among both Indochinese and Caucasian heroin users in the study sample. There is an urgent need to provide smokers and injectors with information explaining the potential risks and ways to minimize harms associated with both routes of use.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract