SPALDING, LINCS: DRUG DEATH CAPITAL

Country Towns Join Inner-City Sink Estates Scarred by the Effects Of
Fatal Substance Abuse

QUIET rural towns such as Spalding in Lincolnshire and Alnwick in
Northumberland see more drug-related deaths per capita than many
inner-city areas, according to a new report.

Boston and Spalding had 13 drug-related deaths last year, compared
with 15 in East London. This represents 12.1 deaths per 100,000 adults
compared with 1.83 in East London.

The figures put the Lincolnshire towns fourth on the league table of
drug deaths in England and Wales. A spokeswoman for the county council
said: "I'm very surprised. Boston is a little deprived but Spalding is
a nice town. It's difficult to imagine why there are so many deaths."

Alnwick, a pretty market town voted the best place to live by Country
Life in 2002, together with the neighbouring towns of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Castle Morpeth and Wansbeck in North
Northumberland, had seven deaths. This means 7.83 deaths per 100,000
people, putting it ninth on the league table.

Overall, drug-related deaths dropped by 6 per cent, according to the
report by the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths.
Researchers at the organisation, based at the International Centre for
Drug Policy at St George's Medical School in London, found 1,487
people died in drugs-related cases in 2003, compared to 1,583 the
previous year. Almost three quarters were men under the age of 45.

The report named Brighton and Hove, the trendy seaside resort to which
many Londoners move to escape inner-city deprivation, as the
drugs-death capital.

The figures show 51 people died last year in drug-related cases in the
city which boasts Cate Blanchett, Paul McCartney, Steve Coogan, Zoe
Ball and Norman Cook among its celebrity residents.

With an average of 25.3 deaths per 100,000 adults, it has almost twice
as many as the second-highest contender, East Lancashire, which had 25
drug-related deaths, an average of 13.9 per 100,000 people.

Although deaths from heroin and morphine decreased by 19 per cent,
these drugs were still involved in most cases. There was no notable
fall in cocaine-related deaths, with the drug killing 132 people in
2003. However, deaths related to Ecstasy fell by 40 per cent in 2003
from the previous year.

The report, to be announced today by Melanie Johnson, Minister for
Public Health, was based on the number of deaths reported by coroners.

Researchers found people in York and Milton Keynes lived in the most
drug-free places, with no recorded deaths.

Oxfordshire had three drug-related deaths, down 87 per cent on the
previous year. However, deaths in Southend and South East Essex rose
by 574 per cent to 13.

Coventry had four deaths, a rise of 337 per cent, and the Wrekin area
of Shropshire had a rise of 320 per cent, also with four deaths.

Hamid Ghodse, director of the Centre for Drug Policy, said: "The
findings seem to indicate an overall decrease in drug-related deaths.
This is excellent news and could well be the result of both the
drug-misuse monitoring and prevention initiatives promoted and carried
out in the last few years. We hope that this trend will continue.
However, there is the need for further vigilance and constant
monitoring of the situation.

"I would like to thank the Department of Health for their support for
this very important programme."

Fabrizio Schifano, senior lecturer and consultant psychiatrist at St
George's Medical School, said: "Brighton has quite a large homeless
population which may account for the high figures, but we have seen a
steady decrease in drug-related deaths in the city since our programme
started in 1997. At one point it was over 32 per 100,000.