most common single-drug suicide deaths involved opiates then antidepressants

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The Drug Abuse Warning Network tracks emergency department and drug

mortality statistics in the United States

(I-Newswire) - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

's Drug Abuse Warning Network ( DAWN ) found that the most common

single-drug suicide deaths involved opiates, followed by antidepressants and

then cocaine, sedatives and anti-anxiety medications.

DAWN information showed that 7 out of 10 of the suicide deaths involved

multiple drugs. The highest rates included combinations of alcohol and

antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications and opiates, alcohol and opiates,

and then antidepressants with opiates. One quarter of the overall deaths in

the metropolitan areas and states involved multiple antidepressants.

" What this data shows is what we teach in our education presentations, "

comments a supervisor at Narconon Arrowhead, which is one of the nation's

largest and most successful drug rehabilitation and education programs,

" that all drugs are basically poisons and that enough of any drug can cause

extreme adverse reactions and even death. "

The organization uses the drug-free rehabilitation methodology developed by

American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard and does not use any drugs

in the treatment process. Part of the reasoning is because all drugs do

produce side effects and it has been demonstrated that drug residues can

become stored in the body and continue to produce negative effects.

The DAWN study of 32 metropolitan areas and six states also looked for

mortality rates for drug abuse. Of the cities that were examined, Baltimore

and Albuquerque had the highest rates with more than 200 deaths per million

people. Another 14 metropolitan areas had drug misuse death rates that

exceeded 100 per 1,000,000.

In the six states, the number of deaths related to drug misuse or abuse

ranged from 74 to 697. After adjusting for population differences, the rates

of drug misuse/abuse deaths ranged from 88 deaths per 1,000,000 in Maine and

New Hampshire to 162 deaths per million in New Mexico.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network is a public health surveillance system that

monitors drug-related hospital emergency department visits and drug-related

deaths to track the impact of drug use, misuse, and abuse in the U.S.

This survey did not include any deaths from adverse reactions to drugs.

Such cases would include the consequences of using a prescription or

over-the-counter pharmaceutical for therapeutic purposes and include deaths

related to adverse drug reactions, side effects, drug-drug interactions, and

drug-alcohol interactions.

For more information on specific drugs and addiction or to get help for a

loved one in need, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 or

visit www.stopaddiction.com. To find results from previous DAWN

publications go to www.dawninfo.samhsa.gov.