§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths arising from overdoses of a proscribed drug there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available by type of drug. [4840]
§ Mr. MichaelSummary statistics of deaths involving controlled drugs are given in the table. It is not possible to determine accurately which of these were caused by drug overdoses. Fuller details, including the type of drug involved, are contained in tables 17, 18 and 19 of the following Home Office Statistical Bulletins—issue 6/92, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1991"; issue 15/93, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1992"; issue 10/94, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1993"; issue 15/95, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1995". Copies of these publications are in the Library.
United Kingdom Number of deaths Underlying cause of death 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Drug dependence and non-dependent abuse of drugs1 294 307 345 322 489 Deaths from poisoning where a controlled drug was mentioned2 Accidental 233 255 327 358 442 Suicide 440 433 400 340 334 Undetermined 262 295 274 252 243 AIDS 55 79 82 107 112 Total 1,284 1,369 1,428 1,379 1,620 1Includes solvents and other non-controlled drugs such as alcohol. 2Excludes Northern Ireland.