Death from drugs rise on Downs 44 people died from 2012 to 2016

DRUG related deaths, from both prescription and illegal drugs, are on the rise in Toowoomba and the greater Darling Downs region.

A new report from the Penington Institute revealed 44 people had died from drug-related deaths in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region from 2012 to 2016.

This is compared to 28 deaths in the same period a decade earlier.

Penington Institute CEO John Ryan said the death toll was alarming.

“The drug overdose crisis is hitting Queensland hard and Toowoomba is no exception,” Mr Ryan said.

“We’ve seen a huge spike in deaths and that is cause for growing alarm.

“From 2001 to 2016, the drug type claiming the most lives in the area is unsurprisingly opioids such as codeine, heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl.”

The Annual Overdose Report 2018 said sleeping and anxiety tablets, known as benzos, were the second highest contributor to deaths and deaths from amphetamines, including crystal meth and ice, had also grown in the last five years.

There were 2177 drug-related deaths in Australia in 2016.

Sunrise Way CEO Wendy Agar said the numbers were shocking.

“That’s 44 families devastated,” she said.

“But it’s an indicator of only one of the impacts of drugs and alcohol in our community, it’s not measuring car accidents, criminal behaviour, domestic violence, it’s only a little slither of the impact of addictions.”

She said solutions involved increasing education around harm minimisation, bringing detox services and follow-up support to the region and creating proactive strategies that keep communities connected.

“Connection is the opposite of addiction,” she said.

“As a community keeping people connected and involved is a really important thing.’’