NSW: Heroin deaths soar to crisis level: study

AAP General News (Australia)
04-16-1999
NSW: Heroin deaths soar to crisis level: study

SYDNEY, April 16 AAP - Heroin overdose deaths had jumped by 134 per cent in Sydney and 230
per cent outside the metropolitan area over five years, a major statewide study released
yesterday has found.

The first long-term study of heroin fatalities in NSW also found more than one in three
deaths occurred within 2km of Kings Cross and 4km of Cabramatta, the Sydney Morning Herald
reported today.

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre study, using coroners' and toxicological
reports, found a substantial rise in heroin-related fatalities in NSW, from 152 deaths in 1992
to 226 in 1996. Seven out of ten deaths were in Sydney.

The Illawarra, which accounted for 43 deaths - 5 per cent of all NSW fatalities - had
emerged as another hotspot, recording the greatest number of heroin fatalities outside the
capital.

It outstripped the more populous Hunter region, which had 35 deaths, according to the
centre's report, Heroin-Related Deaths in NSW 1992-1996.

Study head Dr Shane Darke told the Herald the study proved Kings Cross and Cabramatta were
the biggest drug markets in NSW and Australia.

"You have 35 per cent of the deaths in these two little places, while 20 per cent were in
the bush. That's an extraordinary statistic," Dr Darke said.

AAP lk/trm

KEYWORD: HEROIN

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