OVER 130 DRUG DEATHS IN 12 YEARS, STATES REPORT

More than 130 people have died from "drug dependence" in the 12 years
between 1985 and 1996, according to a new report by the Health
Research Board.

The Overview of Drug Issues in Ireland 1997 says an estimate of drug
deaths is limited because a drug connection is not always recorded.
There are no figures on suicides linked to drug-taking.

The Central Statistics Office classifies deaths officially as those
that are recorded by hospitals as having an "underlying cause of drug
dependence".

In the same 12-year period, half of those who died from AIDS were
intravenous drug users.

This proportion is falling, the report says, after it peaked in 1993
at 63 per cent. Last year just one of the seven people who died of
AIDS was an intravenous drug user.

The 154 people who have died of drug-related AIDS since 1982 brings
the total number of deaths recorded as drug deaths to 284.

The report reviews the law on drugs, syringe robberies and other
related areas.

It compares the amount of drugs seized and uses Garda figures on the
numbers charged with drug-related offences.

"Schools survey data indicate that there has been an increase in the
consumption of drugs, in particular cannabis," the report says.

The age of drug abusers is falling. "In 1996, 81 per cent of those
presenting for treatment for the first time were less than 25 years
old, compared to 69 per cent in 1990."

The report is available from the Drug Misuse Research Division, The
Health Research Board, 73 Lower Baggot St, Dublin.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry