CITY’S DRUG DEATH SHAME

92 overdose in 4 years

“Reducing barriers around medical treatment will provide many people who use drugs with a way out of a cycle of criminal activity and incarceration.” PENINGTON I NSTITUTE CEO JOHN RYAN

GEELONG’S overdose death rate is 20 per cent higher than the national average, according to new statistics.

An annual report from notfor-profit organisation Penington Institute has revealed 92 people died from an overdose in Geelong between 2011 and 2015.

The institute’s CEO, John Ryan, said the numbers showed overdoses were a serious local issue that needed a co-ordinated response.

“We need better community education for people who are experimenting with drug use before they become addicted,” he said.

Mr Ryan said prohibitive costs to treatment, insecure housing and scant availability of support services pushed people who used drugs further into a cycle of crime and poverty.

He said there needed to be a shift in how the community responded to overdoses and drug use more broadly.

“We need to do more to give people a chance to recover,” Mr Ryan said.

“Reducing barriers around medical treatment will provide many people who use drugs with a way out of a cycle of criminal activity and incarceration.

“This is not only a compassionate response, it is one that will actively work towards reducing crime in our community.”

Mr Ryan said the stigma around drug use and overdose needed to be addressed in order to effectively tackle the problem.

“Stigma and shame in relation to drug use and addiction is one of the great barriers for people who are experiencing problems from seeking help,” he said.

Also highlighted in the report was the significant increase in deaths related to pharmaceutical opioids, street heroin and highly potent fentanyl.

This week, a two-year Independent Broad-based Anticorruption Commission (IBAC) investigation revealed a network of Ambulance Victoria paramedics trafficking and taking drugs such as fentanyl for personal use in the Geelong region.

Nine paramedics were sacked or resigned during the probe.

According to the report, Australians are now far more likely to overdose on opioids, including codeine and oxycodone, and since the early 2000s, the number of Australians aged 30-59 who have overdosed has more than doubled.