SIX WAYS TO DIE FROM AN OVERDOSE

MIXING heroin with other drugs and alcohol was one or the most dangerous
practises identified by State Coroner Graeme Johnstoue.

He found six major risk factors in his investigation of heroin-related
deaths of five men and one woman, aged between 23 and 30.

He found mixing heroin with alcohol and legal and illicit drugs increased
overdose risks.

He warned using heroin alone, or with other people using at the same time,
meant a much smaller chance of being saved from an overdose.

Periods of abstinence between hits led to decreased tolerance and a greater
risk of overdose.

And he warned users they could never be sure of the purity of street
heroin, so they could never be sure of how much they could tolerate.

He aiso advised users to call an ambulance immediately if they are unable
to rouse a heroin user, or if the user is snoring -- a sign of a possibly
fatal problem.