Drugs

Let's have a look at the facts in Australia:

A total of 357 people died as a result of an accidental overdose, down from more than 1,100 deaths in 1999.

Heroin deaths


• Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released in 2003 show 1038 people died of drug overdoses in 2001, the most recent year for which figures are available. That was a drop of more than one-third from 1999, when drug-induced deaths peaked at 1739, or 1.4 per cent of all deaths in Australia. The report said the dramatic drop seemed to have been due to a shortage of heroin supply in Australia, also known as a heroin drought.


Drug overdoses


Young addicts may be using the internet to procure prescription drugs such as tranquillisers, sleeping pills and steroids, according to a psychiatry expert. With the growing reach of e-commerce, internet-savvy addicts were now able to access such drugs online, said Bernard St George, a specialist in child, adolescent and family psychiatry. He said online pharmacies based in Mexico and through Asia would dispense drugs without a prescription.


Internet prescriptions


National Drug and Alcohol Research Council (NDARC)

* Cocaine and Methamphetamine Deaths: 2003 Edition
* Cocaine and Methamphetamine mentions in accidental drug-induced deaths in Australia, 1997-2002

Amphetamines


They say 20 years ago alcohol was a factor in 50 per cent of Victoria's fatal road accidents, but that dropped to 20 per cent recently.

However, Acting Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Ferguson says alcohol related deaths and injuries have increased in the past year.


Alcohol related road accidents

"Ninety per cent of drug-caused disability and death is from alcohol and tobacco and just under 10 per cent is from illicit drugs," Prof Stockwell said.

"The health cost of legal drugs per year is about $28 billion, roughly 20,000 lives are lost from legal drugs, and thousands of preventable hospital admissions from diseases and injuries caused by legal drugs."


Legal drugs


In figures released today, the study shows that 2,643 people aged between 15 and 24 died from alcohol-attributable injury and disease between 1993 and 2002 - around 15 per cent of all deaths in the age group.


Alcohol


P.S.

I notice some links are not working from the URLs I found on my searches. Here is a list of the sources:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1270752.htm


http://www.spinneypress.com.au/194_book_desc.html


http://www.life-educationaustralia.com.au/ezine_2_04.htm


http://www.alcoholsummit.nsw.gov.au/druginfo/illicit_drugs/amphetamines


http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/vic/mildura/200411/s1251691.htm


http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/12/1100227562418.html?from=moreStories


http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/29/1088487954264.html