asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total number of deaths in the United Kingdom resulting from drug abuse in the last five years. [HL3428]
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, to Lord Steinberg, dated 2 May 2007.
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what is the total number of deaths in the United Kingdom resulting from drug abuse in the last five years. I am replying in her absence. (HL3428)
The most recent year for which figures are available is 2005. The table below shows the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug poisoning, where any drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act were mentioned on the death certificate in the United Kingdom for the years 2001 to 2005. They do not include deaths which may be indirectly related to drug use, such as blood-borne viral infections or transport accidents.
Number of deaths 2001 2,160 2002 2,035 2003 1,782 2004 1,870 2005 1,992 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and Y10-Y14 and where a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was mentioned on the death record for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and the same definition was used for Scotland excluding deaths coded to F18. 2 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.