[holding answer 31 January 2008]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 4 February 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many drug misuse deaths related to benzodiazepines have occurred in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland and (c) Wales in each year since 1999. (183071)
The most recent year for which figures are available is 2006. The table below shows the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug-related poisoning, and where benzodiazepines were mentioned on the death record, alone or with other substances. All such deaths are defined by ONS as drug misuse deaths. Figures are provided for usual residents of Wales for the years 1999 to 2006.
The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for figures for their respective countries.
Total mentions Mentions without other drugs 1999 17 2 2000 14 4 2001 23 4 2002 13 3 2003 25 4 2004 14 3 2005 12 1 2006 18 6 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 292, 303, 305.2-305,9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E980.0-E980.5 and E962.0 for the years 1999 and 2000 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and YIO-YI4 from 2001 onwards. These deaths were selected where benzodiazepines were mentioned on the death record. 2 Deaths of usual residents of Wales. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.