Five Australians died due to drug use per day in 2020, rates similar to a national peak in the late 1990s, according to the annual Drug Induced Death report.
Released by the Drug Trends program at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre on Thursday, the report found there were 1,842 drug-induced deaths in the first year of the pandemic.
The preliminary figure, which does not include deaths caused by alcohol or tobacco use, is equivalent to five drug-induced deaths per day, or 7.2 deaths per 100,000 Australians.
Dr Amy Peacock, the Drug Trends program lead, said the rate of deaths due to amphetamine overdose in 2020 was the highest it had been since reporting began in 1997.
Amphetamines accounted for almost one-third of all drug-induced deaths.
“Following a period of relative stability, the rate of drug overdose deaths involving amphetamines has increased substantially from 2011 to 2020,” she said.
There were 524 drug overdose deaths involving amphetamines in 2020, equivalent to 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people.
Peacock said while drug-induced deaths due to amphetamines could be caused by a range of stimulants such as methamphetamine, MDMA and dexamphetamine, the Australian drug market and previous analysis “gave confidence” most cases related to methamphetamine use.
“These findings reinforce the importance of substantial investment to develop more effective treatment options and maximise treatment access and coverage for methamphetamine dependence,” she said.
Opioids, including heroin, were the most common substances that caused fatalities, accounting for 61% of all drug-related deaths.
“We’re seeing an increasing involvement of pharmaceutical medicine like benzodiazepines,” Peacock said. “But these deaths are predominantly driven by opioids.”
While the number remained relatively small, fatalities due to cocaine use had also increased fivefold since 2014, causing 0.35% of all deaths.
“Work we’ve done is pointing to increased hospitalisations and indicators of increased availability [of cocaine],” Peacock said.
“It does seem across methamphetamine and cocaine we are seeing increasing harm.”
Peacock said the preliminary rates were expected to increase over time as more data becomes available, however she noted deaths were lower in the later stage of 2020, when lockdown restrictions were imposed, compared to the first quarter of the year.
“We did see a small decrease in the rate of death in quarter three of 2020 compared to quarter one, and the same period in the previous year,” Peacock said.
“I’m not in a position to say whether the change is related to pandemic but is notable early indication of trend.”
Two-thirds of the fatalities were men, most commonly aged between 35 and 54, a profile which has persisted for some time.
While deaths were most common in urban areas, the highest rate of drug-related fatalities was in the Australian Capital Territory, where 12 people per 100,000 died.
“There is something that can be done to prevent unintentional overdose deaths,” Peacock said.
“Given the rise in stimulant deaths … our main response is treatment and harm reduction [but] for amphetamines in particular we don’t have really strong treatment options.
“Investing in, exploring and identifying options for methamphetamine is a key priority going forward. We know treatment episodes are increasing, hospitalisations are increasing, use is increasing among certain groups which is a concerning picture for us.”
The rate of drug-induced deaths peaked in Australia in 1999 and then declined sharply in the early 2000s.
It has since steadily risen year on year, with estimated deaths for the period between 2015 and 2020 now higher than they were in the late 90s.
“When you adjust for the population size, we haven’t reached the rate we saw in the late 1990s but it is generally trending upwards,” Peacock said.
“If we look from 2006 onwards we see it increasing, and obviously estimates for 2018 to 2020 are not finalised and will increase with revision.”
Jake Docker, the CEO of the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League, said the findings demonstrated the importance of a national overdose strategy with “clear indicators”.
The majority of deaths were unintentional overdoses at home.
“While we welcome the investment in naloxone to reduce opioid overdoses, the findings from this report clearly demonstrate that much more needs to be done to prevent overdoses resulting from methamphetamine and other stimulants,” Docker said.
To access free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs, call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.
