Drug abuse in western Denmark during the eighties. II. Fatal poisonings among drug abusers.

Cases of fatal poisoning among drug addicts (n = 246) and abusers of medical drugs (n = 138) are discussed on the basis of the availability of illicit and medical drugs during the eighties. Propoxyphene was frequently the cause of death among both drug addicts and abusers of medical drugs. Deaths caused by analgesics and psychoactive drugs, mainly barbiturates and antidepressants, predominated among abusers of medical drugs. During the late eighties the number of deaths caused by barbiturates and propoxyphene declined as a result of changes in the distribution regulations for both drugs. Heroin/morphine accounted for only one-third of the poisonings in drug addicts. No trends concerning the prevalence of deaths caused by these drugs were observed throughout the decade. The number of deaths caused by the synthetic opiates methadone and ketobemidone, however, increased during the late eighties, probably due to an increased availability of these drugs in the illicit drug market. Alcohol was detected in half of all the poisoning cases and benzodiazepines in one-third.