Drug overdosedeaths up by over 1,000%in last decade

DEATHS caused by drugs have increased by over 1,000% in Ireland in the last decade, according to figures released yesterday.

While drug-related deaths have subsided across the EU, Ireland has continued to buck the trend.

"Drug-related deaths have stabilised and in some cases decreased across the EU, yet Ireland is still experiencing increases, rising from seven in 1990 to 90 in 1999," said the annual report of the European Monitoring Committee on Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Ireland's largest voluntary drug treatment agency, Merchants Quay Ireland, quoted the figures yesterday as part of their drug awareness campaign.

Tony Geoghegan, director of Merchants Quay, said heroin users were 20 to 30 times more likely to die than other people of the same age.

"The tragedy of drug-related deaths is that they are easy to prevent through provision of clear information on the risks involved for drug users, through the provision of training on drug death prevention to persons working with drug users, and by making Naloxone more widely available to staff of emergency services and, where feasible, to drug users themselves."

He said that Naloxone was a drug that could quickly prevent overdoses.

Mr Geoghegan said the majority of overdose victims die alone and that most of these deaths are not immediate. "Therefore there is time for intervention," he said.

Heroin, alcohol and methadone were drugs commonly found in overdoses. A group of tranquillisers called benzodiazepines including drugs such as Valium, Librium and Diazepam were often involved.

Mr Geoghegan said people who take heroin following a period of detoxification can overdose because their tolerance levels have dropped.

He said overdoses also occur when the heroin was of unknown purity.

Mr Geoghegan listed a number of overdose reduction strategies:

* Educate users and their families to recognise and treat overdoses;

* Increase availability of Naloxone to those most at risk, and to ambulance crews;

* Peer education projects to promote a change of behaviour among users.