One Australian citizen dies every five hours of a drug overdose, the vast majority of which are unintentional, a new study from the Penington Institute has revealed.
According to researchers at the organisation, which was established to promote rational approaches to reduce the social problems related to problematic substance use, there were a total of 2,162 drug-induced deaths in Australia in 2017, which was up from 1,231 in 2002.
Of the 2,162 drug-induced deaths that occurred in 2017, 1,612 were unintentional, which was an increase from 903 in 2002.
Researchers discovered that opioids played a role in 904 unintentional overdose deaths in 2017, making them the deadliest drugs in Australia that year.
Benzodiazepines were involved in 583 unintentional overdose deaths across the country over the same 12-month period, making them the second most-deadly drug group, followed by stimulants, which were involved in 417 deaths.
The study also revealed that men in Australia were more than twice as likely as women to suffer an unintentional drug-induced death in 2017, and that unintentional overdose deaths were most prevalent among the 40 to 49 age group.
By ethnicity, the report found that Aboriginal people were more than three times as likely to die from an unintentional drug-induced death in 2017 than people from other ethnic groups.
In a foreword for the study, John Ryan, CEO of the Penington Institute, wrote: “The report makes plain the urgent need for action as Australia’s overdose risk profile continues to diversify.
“There is no simple solution, but fortunately, Australia doesn’t have to start from scratch – there’s already ample evidence on how to make overdose less frequent and less fatal.
“Community-wide and targeted education to potential overdose witnesses, expanded access to drug treatment including opioid agonist therapy, improved access to the opioid reversal drug naloxone, pain management and allied health will all help.
“Localised interventions for regional and rural communities that are community-led and based on partnership should also be expanded.”
In June, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)’s latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Programme report revealed that heroin and MDMA consumption had risen to their highest levels ever recorded across the country.
Research carried out for the study also suggested that Australia’s annual consumption of methamphetamine reached nearly 10 tonnes last year, which compared to just over four tonnes of cocaine, and 750kgs of heroin.
ACIC Chief Executive Officer Michael Phelan commented: “The Australian community continues to consume illicit drugs at concerning levels and the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program is providing an important, unified and consistent guiding tool for developing holistic drug responses.”
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