HEROIN OVERDOSE IN AUSTRALIA
The harm that heroin use causes its users and the community is disproportionate to the relatively low prevalence of its use in most developed countries. One of the most common harms is heroin overdose, both fatal and non-fatal. Research has suggested that many heroin-related deaths are polydrug deaths, and it may be that the combinations of drugs involved in drug-related deaths change over time.
During the 1990s, there was a substantial increase in the scale of Australian heroin markets. In New South Wales during 1993–1999, the price per gram of heroin reached a historic low, the purity of street heroin was 60%, and heroin was the most commonly injected drug among regular injecting drug users (IDUs). In the late 1990s, there were substantial rises in the number of people being treated for heroin dependence, in deaths related to a heroin overdose, arrests related to heroin, and in hepatitis C infections.
Heroin overdose deaths became an issue of great public concern around the country in 1997. In response, new harm-reduction initiatives were implemented in the late 1990s. In NSW, information about reducing the risk of overdose was distributed, NSW police made it a standard policy not to accompany ambulance officers when they attended drug overdoses to reduce the fear of police apprehension among illicit drug users, and there were increases in the provision of opioid replacement therapies. Despite these efforts to reduce harm and demand, overdoses continued to increase.
In early 2001, a dramatic decline in the availability of heroin in Sydney was reported by injecting drug users, law enforcement personnel working in key drug markets across the city, and by those working in treatment agencies targeting heroin users. These initial reports were confirmed across the country by the 2001 Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS), Australia’s strategic early warning system, and examined in the United Nations report Global illicit drug trends. In NSW, the purity of heroin available on the street fell from 60% to around 25%–30%, availability decreased significantly, and the price of a “cap” of heroin doubled from $25 to $50. The reduction in availability was most severe from January to April 2001, but the heroin supply still does not appear to have returned to the levels seen in the late 1990s, with the maintenance of lower purity levels and higher prices. Following the onset of the shortage, regular IDUs reported less frequent heroin use, and increases in cocaine, methamphetamine and possibly benzodiazepine use were reported.
FILL IN THE BLANKS SUITABLE WORD OR A SMALL PHRASE
TIME LIMIT 10 MINUTES.
1.In New South Wales an increase in the price of heroin was noted along with__________.
2.In second half of 1990, the ______were implemented due to an increase in public insight.
3.An increase in other drugs was noted due to_______
4 Most mortality due to the heroine dependency is considered as ________.
5.information about _______ of overdose was distributed
6.In the late 1990's substantial rises were noted in _____ infection
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