Heroin deaths drop
Mark Buttler
06 Dec 2005
VICTORIA'S heroin death toll has dropped sharply but youth workers believe there are as many users as ever.
There have been 60 heroin-related deaths this year, a far cry from the 359 recorded in 1999.
But Melbourne-based outreach youth worker Jamie Boyd said it was wrong to believe the lower death rate meant fewer people were using heroin.
Mr Boyd, of Open Family, said lower purity was the most likely explanation for the drop in deaths.
He said the degree of use was evident from the battle to meet demand for methadone programs from addicts wanting to get off the drug.
"Even chemists are having a problem with people getting on to their programs," Mr Boyd said.
"There are still a lot of people using . . . they're just not dying as often."
Mr Boyd said he was still very busy taking young people with habits to court and getting them to doctors for treatment.
He said some heroin users were supplementing their habit by dangerously dabbling in mental illness prescription medications and amphetamines and ecstasy.
"There's a lot more polydrug use," he said.
Police sources backed the claims there were still high levels of heroin use.
And they said crimes committed by addicts, such as robberies and burglaries, remained one of their most significant problems.
Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine figures show 1854 people have died of heroin-related overdoses since 1995.
The lower death rate in recent years has also been attributed to reduced supply from Afghanistan. Sources said if more heroin became available, the death rate could soar.
