Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2007 - Drug Misuse Information ...

Drug-related deaths in Scotland
C5
Drug-related deaths in Scotland
This section is based on the General Register Office for Scotland’s Short Paper published on the
30th August 2007. This paper and those for previous years can be found at
www.gro-scotland.gov.uk
In order to be consistent with the other data sources in this publication, ISD have highlighted
5-year trends in drug related deaths (2002 to 2006) within the following key points. The original
GROS paper focused on trends from 1996.
Key Points 2006
Overview
■ In 2006 there were 421 drug-related deaths (Table C5.1).
■ Most deaths (83%) were to persons aged under 45 years old, with 16% aged under 25 years old (Table
C5.2).
■ Men accounted for 79% of the 421 drug-related deaths in 2006 (Table C5.4).
■ The majority of deaths (67%) were known or suspected drug abusers (280 people), with percentages
broadly similar for males (67%) and females (63%) (Table C5.4).
■ Of the 69 cases aged under 25 years, 68% (47 cases) were known, or suspected to be, drug-dependent.
20% were accidental poisonings, 10% were undetermined and 1% were intentional self-poisonings
(Table C5.4).
Five Year Trends – 2002 to 2006
Care should be taken when assessing the trends shown in Tables C5.1 and C5.2 because of the relatively small
numbers involved, particularly for some health board areas, and the possibility that more complete information has
been reported in recent years.
■ In 2006 there were 85 (25%) more deaths than in 2005 (increasing from 336 to 421) and 39 more than
in 2002 (Table C5.1).
■ The number of deaths involving known or suspected drug abusers was the same in 2006 as in 2002 (280
each year); the intervening years saw lower numbers (2003, 216; 2004, 232; 2005, 204). The number
of deaths attributed to accidental poisoning has increased since 2002, from 17 to 51 in 2006 (Table
C5.1).
■ Between 2002 and 2006 there were decreases in the numbers of drug-related deaths in the younger age
groups (under 30 years old) but increases in older age groups (over 30 years old). The total number of
deaths in those aged under 30 years old was 191 in 2002 falling to 137 in 2006, whilst the deaths in
those aged over 30 years old rose from 191 in 2002 to 284 in 2006 (Table C5.2).
Health Impact
Drugs recorded
Tables C5.5 and C5.6 give information on the involvement of selected drugs, either alone or, more commonly,
in combination with other drugs. Since the tables record individual mentions of particular drugs they involve
double counting of some deaths. It is believed that for the overwhelming majority of cases where morphine
has been identified in post-mortem toxicological tests its presence is a result of heroin use. The tables therefore
show a combined figure for ‘heroin/morphine’. In 2006 the drugs listed were known to be involved in 364
(86%) of the 421 deaths 1 .
■ In 2006 heroin/morphine was recorded in 260 (62%) of the deaths; alcohol was recorded in 131 (31%);
methadone was recorded in 97 (23%) of the deaths and diazepam was recorded in 78 (19%) of the
deaths (Table C5.5).
Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2007
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