Drug deaths Mornington Peninsula: 50 die from accidental overdose
The number of drug deaths on the Mornington Peninsula is “unacceptably” high, experts say, with most caused by mixing prescription drugs with alcohol. And they fear fatalities will continue to rise in the wake of the pandemic.
South East
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Fatal drug overdoses are up more than 10 per cent on the Mornington Peninsula and experts say most deaths were accidents caused by mixing prescription drugs and alcohol.
The Pennington Institute’s Annual Overdose Report 2020 revealed that in the five year period between 2014 and 2018, 50 locals died from an unintentional drug overdose – up from 44 in 2009-2013.
Pennington Institute chief executive John Ryan said the rising number of drug overdose deaths on the Mornington Peninsula was unacceptable.
“That’s an unacceptably high number – and it’s 50 too many,” Mr Ryan said.
“The data is clear: the overdose situation in the Mornington Peninsula region is not improving. People are suffering and dying unnecessarily, and all levels of government and society need to do more to keep them safe.”
Peninsula Health community health operations director Iain Edwards said more people had sought treatment for drug and alcohol since June, following a drop in client numbers in April and May.
“The largest point of difference is that people are remaining engaged in alcohol and drug treatment at a higher rate than the previous year,” he said.
Mr Edwards said clients were now being treated via telehealth and phone based counselling.
The number of unintentional drug overdoses in the region had “remained in line with the previous year” and prescription opioids were the most common cause of overdose on the Mornington Peninsula, he said.
Mr Edwards said more education and awareness programs were needed to ensure communities understood the dangers of mixing substances.
“Prescription opioids and alcohol are contributing factors in overdose, with the majority of overdoses being linked to multiple substance use rather than a single drug,” he said.
“The combination of use can be fatal with 75 per cent of overdoses being unintentional.”
The Pennington Institute’s report painted a bleak picture of drug use in Victoria.
It found that 355 people died from an unintentional overdose in the five year period from 2014-2018.
Overdoses involving heroin surged by 50 per cent, claiming the lives of 158 people in 2018 alone.
The number of people overdoing on pharmaceutical opioids almost doubled from 306 in the five year period from 2004-2008 to 600 between 2014-2018.
Mr Ryan said the report aimed to “bring overdose out of the shadows”.
“This is Australia’s hidden health crisis,” he said.
The “slow work” of classifying drug-related deaths meant the impact of COVID-19 on the overdose toll would not be seen until 2022, Mr Ryan said.
“But, as evidence from overseas shows, COVID-19 is accelerating trends and exacerbating risk factors which are already detectable in this year’s report,” he said.
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