What's the drug that kills more people than any other? We
had a debate in class and we couldn't agree on which one it was. I think it's
tobacco but others thought it was illegal drugs like ice and heroin.
Well, you were right - across the world, tobacco kills more
people than any other drug. In countries like Australia, alcohol is the second
largest cause of drug-related deaths, followed by prescription medications and
illicit drugs.
Before we look at the actual numbers, it is important to
understand what we mean by a 'drug death'.
In Australia, deaths are considered 'drug-induced' if
directly attributable to drug use. For example, when an alcohol or drug
overdose occurs. Drugs can also contribute to 'drug-related deaths' as a result
factors such as violence, driving while drunk or intoxicated or when an
underlying health condition exists. For example, a stimulant drug may cause
death in a vulnerable individual with an undiagnosed heart problem.
It is often the case that a death occurs as a result of the
combined effect of alcohol and illicit drugs making it difficult to attribute
the death to one specific substance. Sometimes deaths may occur as a result of
ill health caused by alcohol or drug use many years ago and there are instances
when doctors may not record drugs on a death certificate even where drugs might
be involved. Despite these difficulties there are estimates of the number of
deaths associated with different tobacco, alcohol and drugs.
When you look at the statistics, smoking is by far the
leading cause of preventable death. Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 6
million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause
more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. Around 15,000 people die every
year in Australia due to smoking – that's about 40 each day!
According to the World Health Organisation, in 2012, there
were around 3.3 million deaths attributable to alcohol consumption. That
accounts for around one in 20 of all global deaths. The number of Australians
that die due to alcohol can vary each year from between 3,500 up to more than
5,000. That means up to 15 alcohol-related deaths per day.
There are many prescription drugs that can cause death and
in recent years it is the painkillers such as oxycodone, morphine and codeine
and benzodiazepines, a range of drugs used to treat anxiety or sleep problems,
which lead to many accidental and intentional fatal overdoses. Using drugs in
combination (or 'polydrug' use) is often the cause of death. For example, the
latest statistics show that in 2016 over 96% of benzodiazepine deaths in Australia
involved other drugs including alcohol.
In 2014, there were an estimated 207,400 illicit
drug-related deaths worldwide. Overdose deaths account for almost half of these
worldwide, and in most cases the drugs involved were opioids (i.e., drugs like
heroin). According to the latest Australian statistics, in 2016 the total
number of prescription and illicit drug-related deaths was 1,808 – the highest
number in 20 years. Stimulant drugs including methamphetamine (speed or ice)
and MDMA (ecstasy), as well as heroin accounted for 724 of these deaths.
Using any drug involves risk. Using alcohol, prescribed or
illicit drugs at the same time massively increases the risk of illness and
death.
First published: February 2018