Rise in drug-related deaths
DEATHS from drug-related issues have increased in North Cyprus in recent years, according to forensic medicine specialist Dr İdris Deniz.
Dr Deniz pointed out that there were “only two or three drug-related deaths” in North Cyprus in 2019, but that this number rose to five in 2020 and then nine in 2021.
He said that as of the end of September this year, there have already been 11 drugrelated deaths.
UNDER-40 FOREIGN NATIONALS
In addition Dr Deniz, who works at Lefkoşa Dr Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department, noted that these deaths are primarily occurring among foreign nationals under the age of 40.
Dr Deniz explained that the deaths are determined as drug-related after samples are taken from a deceased individual’s body during a post-mortem.
“These cases usually come to us as ‘a person found dead’, a ‘fall from height’, a ‘fatal accident’ or a ‘sudden death’ such as ‘suicide’,” he said.
“To ascertain the cause of death we take toxicological samples and send them to the İstanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine,
where they are checked against 300 active pharmaceutical ingredients, including drugs.”
He said that while narcotics police have carried out “successful operations”, more needs to be done, including the creation of a “Forensic Law”.