Prescription drug overdoses driving death toll

Australia Broadcast Center

01-07-2025

Isabella Higgins: In just one year, more than 2,000 Australians died of a drug overdose. Most were unintentional deaths. That's the stark headline figure of new analysis being released this week looking into drug-induced deaths. And advocates say illegal drugs aren't the only problem. Here's National Health Equity reporter, Caitlyn Gribbin.
Caitlyn Gribbin: There's a stereotype about drug-related deaths that John Ryan wants to put a stop to.
John Ryan : That idea that it's only illegal drugs is wrong. The overdose toll is actually made up of some people that inject drugs, definitely, but much of the overdose toll is people that are using pharmaceutical drugs, prescription drugs.
Caitlyn Gribbin: John Ryan's the chief executive of the Penington Institute, a not-for-profit drug research group. It's released new research revealing 189 fatal overdoses every four weeks. Proof, Mr Ryan insists, that a new approach is needed to deal with dangerous drug use.
John Ryan : We're losing the equivalent of a Boeing 737 full of Australians every month. The overdose toll has long exceeded the road toll.
Caitlyn Gribbin: Early analysis of the report breaks down the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data on drug-induced deaths, which is from 2023. Overdose deaths were down 6% on the previous year, but John Ryan says figures will increase when ABS data revisions come in. The numbers are confronting, with nearly 2,300 people dying of a drug overdose. More than three-quarters were unintentional deaths. Opioids such as heroin and pharmaceutical opioids remain the most common drug type involved in unintentional deaths, contributing to almost half. But the proportion of drug-related fatalities involving stimulants such as methamphetamine and also cocaine increased on previous years.
Amanda Roxburgh : Australia is a major destination for methamphetamine. We've got high numbers of large seizures being detected at our borders.
Caitlyn Gribbin: Amanda Roxburgh, a senior research fellow and clinical psychologist at medical research organisation the Burnet Institute, says the highly potent crystal methamphetamine is the predominant stimulant drug now being used in Australia.
Amanda Roxburgh : We're not only seeing increases in deaths related to methamphetamine, but we're also seeing increases in methamphetamine-related hospitalisations. So it's relatively cheap to buy and it's really readily available.
Caitlyn Gribbin: The Penington analysis also found drug-induced deaths involving stimulants overtook benzodiazepines like Valium as the second most common drug type involved in fatal overdoses. Most drug overdoses are polysubstance overdoses. They involve more than one drug. John Ryan says pharmaceutical opioids such as codeine and oxycodone and those from the benzodiazepine family such as diazepam or Valium are commonly involved in overdose deaths.
John Ryan : The daughter of a friend of mine who went through a messy divorce ended up on benzodiazepines to manage the stress and anxiety and one night drank a bit more red wine than normal, fell asleep on the couch and was found dead the next day. An absolutely tragic example of a middle-aged woman with two young children who died from a combination of prescribed pharmaceuticals and alcohol. Most of these deaths are occurring in private homes and often it's lounge rooms in suburbia and regional and rural towns.
Caitlyn Gribbin: Mr Ryan says only a small amount of funding goes to harm reduction such as overdose education, the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, drug testing and safe injecting facilities. A much bigger share goes to law enforcement. The full overdose report will be out this year.
Isabella Higgins: Caitlin Gribbin reporting. In a statement the Federal Department of Health says the National Drug Strategy provides a commitment to harm minimisation through a balanced adoption of evidence-based demand, supply and harm reduction strategies.