NEWS: Herald Sun - 19/01/2006 'Australia's hidden drug death toll'

[hoptis]

Australia's hidden drug death toll
Mark Buttler
19 Jan 2006

Victim: Stephanie Grace

HUNDREDS of deaths have been linked to a boom in ecstasy, amphetamine and cocaine use across Australia.

The hidden toll of 664 in five years was revealed in coroner's court figures commissioned by the Herald Sun. Two hundred died in Victoria.

One of the most tragic cases was Stephanie Gracie, 18, of Altona. She died from an overdose after her boyfriend injected her with amphetamines.

"I have not come to terms with it. The shuddering shock of seeing her lying there dead is still alive," Stephanie's father Cameron said.

The coronial figures are based on drugs including amphetamines, ecstasy, cocaine and GHB.

Unintentional overdose, suicide, motor vehicle tragedies, homicide and accidents – such as falls and drowning – were among cases listed.

People who died of natural causes exacerbated by drug use were also included.

The deaths are cases where drugs were listed as a primary, secondary or tertiary factor.

The figures show:

OVERDOSES caused more than half the deaths – 383.

EIGHTY-three lives were lost to drug-related suicide.

ROAD accidents linked to drugs killed 81.

MORE than three-quarters of those who died were males.

The drugs on which the statistics are based are regularly used by thousands of young Victorians.

The figures come from cases where a coroner has made reference to the drugs' influence on a death or where toxicity levels are outside the "normal therapeutic range".

Cases where the amount of the drug taken could have affected the judgment of the deceased are also included.

But the real toll could be even higher, according to the National Coroners Information System.

"This data set does not purport to be representative of all party drug-related deaths between the time period specified," it said in a disclaimer.

"Due to occasional coding errors, some missing data and some cases not being closed, it is possible that there are relevant deaths not included in this data set."

Stephanie Gracie's boyfriend Paul Anthony Toms, 34, was initially charged with manslaughter for injecting her.

He was later sent to jail for a maximum six years on a charge of reckless conduct endangering life.

Stephanie's mother Bronwyn said anyone who sold or handed over drugs which caused a fatal overdose should face trial on manslaughter.

The coronial figures were obtained as paramedics report the use of the dangerous drug GHB remains high.

They say between five and 15 people are admitted to hospital emergency wards each week after using the popular nightclub and rave drug.

Metropolitan Ambulance Service paramedic Alan Eade said some were not breathing when emergency help arrived.

"They end up in the emergency rooms on a ventilator," he said.

From Herald Sun

Disbelief at teen daughter's drug fate
Mark Buttler
19 Jan 2006

TEENAGER Stephanie Gracie was foaming at the mouth, her head lolling about and eyes rolling back into her head.

The choice for boyfriend Paul Toms was simple: he could get help or do nothing.

A drug user for half his 34 years, Toms thought he knew best how to deal with her amphetamine overdose. He did nothing.

He put Stephanie to bed then settled in to watch TV before nodding off in his seat.

That was at about 6am on January 15, 2004.

Stephanie's father Cameron lived in a house a few metres from the converted garage in which his daughter stayed.

About 9am, Mr Gracie called her twice on her mobile phone but, getting no answer, did not go in, choosing to respect her privacy.

"I wish I'd barged in, in hindsight," he said.

At 12.15pm, Toms wandered into the Altona house for a shower then checked on Stephanie at 1.05pm.

She was already dead, the victim of a methylamphetamine injection Toms later admitted giving to her.

Toms' inaction haunts Mr Gracie and his former wife Bronwyn as much as the lethal injection.

"The chill that goes over me when I think of him sitting there watching TV while she dies," Ms Gracie said.

Mr Gracie's feelings also remain raw.

"Even if he'd taken off and rung from 100km away, she'd be alive," he said

"All they (drug addicts) think about's their own a--e."

The Gracies still rue how fate put Stephanie on the path to meeting Toms.

Stephanie, 18, was a fine student, accomplished sportswoman and talented musician when she started a science course at Victoria University.

She had achieved an ENTER score of 86 for a course that required just 65, but decided this would be her passage into a police career.

Toms, who had a chequered background of drug abuse and other troubles, had limped into the course as a man who had burnt most of his bridges.

They began a relationship, though Stephanie's parents had reservations.

"We were hoping Stephanie would have come out of this so much wiser," Mr Gracie said.

They had reason to be optimistic. Stephanie had been bright enough to be a scholarship student at Lowther Hall in Essendon and they wanted her to use her own judgment to deal with the situation.

"If we thought she'd even been dabbling in drugs, he (Toms) would have been gone," Ms Gracie said.

"We knew she was not one of those kids using ecstasy at rave parties."

An autopsy found there was only one needle puncture and no evidence of previous intravenous drug use.

Ms Gracie cannot believe her daughter willingly took the fatal drug.

"When they said it was an injection, I said there's no way she'd allow that to happen," she said.

In August last year, Justice Stephen Kaye sentenced Toms to six years in jail with a minimum of four after he pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering life.

"Having recklessly imperilled Stephanie Gracie's life by injecting her with amphetamines, you failed to take any appropriate steps to redeem the situation when it became apparent that her life was indeed at risk," Justice Kaye said.

Toms is appealing against the sentence.

From Herald Sun

 

[marklar_the_23rd]

664 deaths in 5 years out of hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of users?

going by the governments own safety guidlines for prescription drugs, i believe that death rate is in acceptable ranges.

 

[NickyJ]

What a total fucking moron.

If anyone ever comes across Paul Toms please do me a big favour and punch him in the face for me.

kthxbye

 

[Pleonastic]

Bwahahaah! Those statistics almost justify the risk. I do things every single day of my life that are statistically more likely to kill me.

 

[Jimity]

664 deaths in 1,825 days, spanning 4 drugs (well 11 if you want to count PMA, MDA, MDMA, MDEA, methampheatmine, amphetamine, 4-Mar, GHB, GBL, 1,4b and cocaine).

Thats not a lot of deaths. Like you said Pleo, scratching your balls is more fatal apparently.

 

[*=Regulator=*]

The article doesn't make it 100% clear exactly what constitutes a 'drug'. I'm interested to know if prescription medication is included in the statistics. For example, does it include individuals who deliberately overdose on anti depressants?

Also, I'd like to see this figure compared with deaths as a result of alcohol consumption over the same period. Just a wild guess, but I think there would be a few more on the booze side...

 

[Splatt]

What? How the fuck do you die from meth.

 

[Vet]

Death

Tobacco related deaths?

Alcohol related deaths?

Same time period.

I quit smoking because I knew for sure it would kill me.

I cut way back on booze because I knew for sure it would kill me.

I'll take my chances with drugs. The odds are in my favor.

 

[Jimity]

The article doesn't make it 100% clear exactly what constitutes a 'drug'.

I thought the same thing until I re-read it and saw...


The coronial figures are based on drugs including amphetamines, ecstasy, cocaine and GHB.

 

[*=Regulator=*]

I thought the same thing until I re-read it and saw...


The coronial figures are based on drugs including amphetamines, ecstasy, cocaine and GHB.

While it says including those drugs, it doesn't say they are the only drugs taken into account. Surely they would at least include Heroin, which isn't mentioned in the above list...

 

[Jimity]

Hmmm... Good point.

Surely there has been more deaths than that then, if it includes all (illegal?) drugs.

Maybe not. Good on Harm Reduction.

 

[lady grey]

Read this article this morning, didnt really come as a shock, i actually thought that the numbers would be higher as a friend of mine works in a hospital and she says every weekend they get a lot of people in because of drug OD's. This article is just another one of those scare tactics that we have seen so much of lately and most drug users know their limit and know ecstasy, amphetimines & cocaine in the right amounts is not dangerous. Dont know bout GHB as would never touch the shit in my life but yeah each to their own..

 

[MazDan]

I dont think it is right to trivialise these sorts of stories.

The fact is that people DO die from using drugs and yes it can be a secondary contributer.

The message is to be aware that it can happen and to keep that in mind.

I have zero tolerance for people who drink drive and zero tolerance for those who take drugs and drive.

I agree that the article is poor in that it simply bundles everything together............ it stated that 50% were over doses............if the figures include H then I would imagine that would take up a fair share of the ODs.

80 odd were suicides.............even one is bad.

I think that instead of us all knocking the article that it should serve as a timely reminder to us to be careful.

It also makes me wish we could get more people online hgere to learn more about harm reduction.


What % of our drug using population actually even knows about BL...........probably less than 1%.

 

[Jwlst]

Another thing to note is every drug addict I know (mainly meth users I dont hang with many other harder drug people) always says when they attempt suicide they'd go the O.D route or plan the suicide to go through while they are high. I reckon alot of these woulda be deliberate or just a suicide that was gonna happen anyways but they had done thier usual crack pipe session that morning.

Again saying drugs are safe is stupid, i dont think death is the problem, more worried bout mental illnesses which I think are the greatest danger of drugs.

 

[basix]

The boyfriend in the article is an idiot, not for giving her the drug, she obviously allowed that to happen, but for not getting her help and "putting her into bed " after overdosing on meth. What a fucking tool I hope he stays locked up for a long time.

 

[joannie_mhm]

I reckon alot of these woulda be deliberate or just a suicide that was gonna happen anyways but they had done thier usual crack pipe session that morning.

but there'd be a percentage that wouldn't be suicidal at all if they didn't feel trapped by drugs.

 

[Anton_Fairfax]

I think that instead of us all knocking the article that it should serve as a timely reminder to us to be careful.

Exactly. We should try to remain open minded to both sides of the argument. I've noticed a lot of people here jump to conclusions on these articles, and also seem to distort statistics as much as the drug propaganda does. you can't really compare drugs and alchohol cause alchohol is used VASTLY more than drugs, so naturally there are more alchohol related deaths. same with smoking.

...In fact, this is a good argument for NOT legalising drugs... if the above figures seem so low to everyone here, and alchohol and smoking stats seem so much higher, it could be argued that criminalising drugs and the "say no" campaign has been effective.

(And then when a politician fuels that campaign by knocking drugs, we all jump on again and condemn them and take everything they say out of context.)

And just while im ranting - why does everyone here criticise john howard etc for his comments? does anyone belive ANY PM, labor or liberal would support drugs publicly?... leave the politicians alone is all i'm saying.

End Rant.

 

[Mr TIMO]

Exactly. We should try to remain open minded to both sides of the argument. I've noticed a lot of people here jump to conclusions on these articles, and also seem to distort statistics as much as the drug propaganda does. you can't really compare drugs and alchohol cause alchohol is used VASTLY more than drugs, so naturally there are more alchohol related deaths. same with smoking.

...In fact, this is a good argument for NOT legalising drugs... if the above figures seem so low to everyone here, and alchohol and smoking stats seem so much higher, it could be argued that criminalising drugs and the "say no" campaign has been effective.

(And then when a politician fuels that campaign by knocking drugs, we all jump on again and condemn them and take everything they say out of context.)

And just while im ranting - why does everyone here criticise john howard etc for his comments? does anyone belive ANY PM, labor or liberal would support drugs publicly?... leave the politicians alone is all i'm saying.

End Rant.

interesting point, but if mdma became legalised would that reduce the alcohol related deaths at a greater rate than the level of mdma deaths will increase by? (sorry if that's confusing)

edit: ah crap i thought we were talking mdma here. but my question still stands

 

[Splatt]

Did her heart fail or was it some type of sensativity to the drug?
I'm pretty sure you can inject grams and grams of pure meth and not die? impurities, collapsed vein/artyery from bad shot.. unfiltered shot?

 

[MazDan]

Interesting and quality points Anton and Mr timo.........quite brilliant actually.

I love it when someone gives me new food for thought.