Quality of heroin and heroin-related deaths from 1987 to 1995 in Vienna, Austria.
Addiction
; 95(3): 375-82, 2000 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10795358
ABSTRACT
AIMS:
To investigate the quality of heroin seized in Vienna between 1987 and 1995 and to examine whether there was a relationship between the quality of heroin and the rate of drug-related deaths.DESIGN:
Reports of heroin seizure analysis and post-mortem reports of heroin-related deaths in Vienna from 1987 to 1995 were analysed.RESULTS:
There were 386 seizures of heroin comprising a total weight of 25 640.12 g heroin. All the seizures were in the base form. All seizures also contained a diluent, mainly lactose. Additionally, in 95 seizures caffeine, in four seizures paracetamol and in three seizures metaqualon were detected. Of a total of 764 drug-related deaths 506 cases were classified as heroin-related deaths. In 336 cases other central nervous system-depressant drugs and/or alcohol could be detected in the blood in addition to morphine (polydrug heroin-related deaths). There was evidence of a trend towards greater polydrug involvement during the study period. The age of victims of polydrug heroin-related deaths remained unchanged over time while the age of victims of pure heroin-related deaths decreased significantly. The morphine concentration in the medulla oblongata in heroin-related deaths decreased significantly. Finally, there was no statistically significant relationship between the rate of heroin-related deaths per year and the diacetylmorphine concentration of heroin seizures in that year.CONCLUSION:
The results did not substantiate the widely held belief that increases in heroin-related deaths could be explained by an increase in the quality of heroin.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Contaminação de Medicamentos
/
Heroína
/
Dependência de Heroína
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Addiction
Assunto da revista:
TRANSTORNOS RELACIONADOS COM SUBSTANCIAS
Ano de publicação:
2000
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Áustria