§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths of people aged over 60 years in
Deaths to persons aged 60 years and over, Scotland: selected causes 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 (a) Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances 2 1 2 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 (b) Suicide and self-inflicted poisoning (and poisoning undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted) by drug or medicament 64 41 52 48 38 45 45 49 39 45 (c)Drug dependence and nondependent abuse of drugs 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ICD codes:
- (a) E850-E858
- (b) E950.0-E950.5, E980.0-E980.5
- (c) 304, 305.2-305.9
Cause of death is classified under the Ninth Revision of the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death (ICD). There is no agreed definition of medicinal drugs, and deaths resulting from drugs are classified to the ICD categories given above irrespective of how the drugs were obtained or the purpose for which they were used.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths in each of the past nine years in Scotland resulted from the use of(a) heroin, (b) temazepam, (c) cocaine/crack, (d) LSD, (e) solvents, (f) amphetamines, (g) ecstasy, (h) paracetamol, (i) co-proxamol, (j) khat, (k) alcohol, (1) tobacco and (m) cannabis. [38355]
§ Mr. Galbraith[holding answer 8 April 1998]: The information is given in the table.
140W
1993 1994 1995 1996 (a) Heroin 11(2) 19(1) 49(4) 32(10) alone 3 8 25 11 with other drugs 8(2) 11(1) 24(4) 21(10) (b) Temazepam 49(8) 84(20) 68(12) 48(19) alone 12 12 4 1 with other drugs 37(8) 72(20) 64(12) 47(19) (c) Cocaine/crack 2(1) 2 3 3 alone 0 2 1 1 with other drugs 2(1) 0 2 2 (d) LSD 0 1(1) 0 0 alone 0 0 0 0 with other drugs 0 1(1) 0 0 (e) Solvents 8 7 6 9 (f) Amphetamines 4 3(3) 3(1) 5(1) alone 4 0 1 0 with other drugs 0 3(3) 3(1) 5(1) (g) Ecstasy 0 4 3 6 alone 0 4 2 0 with other drugs 0 0 1 6 (h) Paracetamol 59(8) 59(17) 82(15) 56(14) alone 38 32 24 24 with other drugs 21(8) 27(17) 58(15) 32(14) Scotland resulted from (a) over-medication, (b) suicide and (c) other misuse of medicinal drugs in each of the past 10 years. [38352]
§ Mr. Galbraith[holding answer 8 April 1998]: The information available is given in the table.
1993 1994 1995 1996 (i) Co-proxamol 19(8) 27(11) 26(10) 35(11) alone 11 13 15 20 with other drugs 8(8) 14(11) 11(10) 15(11) (j) Khat 0 0 0 0 (k) Alcohol 421 513 599 709 (1) Tobacco n/a n/a n/a n/a (m) Cannabis 0 0 6(2) 2(1) alone 0 0 0 0 with other drugs 0 0 6(2) 2(1) The figures correspond to the number of deaths where the substances were mentioned on the death certificate or were identified following investigation. Where, for example, both heroin and temazepam were involved, each will be counted in the table; once under 'heroin with other drugs' and once under 'temazepam with other drugs'. The figures in brackets are those deaths with a mention of alcohol and are included in the non-bracketed figures. None of these cases is included in line (k) which covers deaths certified as due to alcoholic psychoses, alcohol dependence syndrome, non-dependent abuse of alcohol, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, and toxic effects of alcohol.
Data for years prior to 1994 are available but there are undercounts of the types of drugs involved due to the methods of data collection and processing in use at the time. From 1994, a new method was introduced which gives a more accurate count of drug deaths. Data for 1993 are not directly comparable and are provided for information purposes only.