Heroin‐related deaths in regional New South Wales, 1992–96

The coronial files of all 188 heroin‐related fatalities that occurred in regional New South Wales between 1992 and 1996 were inspected. There was a significant increase in fatalities, rising from 23 deaths in 1992 to 53 during 1996. The regions in which the most deaths occurred were Wollongong/Illawarra (43 deaths), Newcastle/Hunter (35) and the far north coast (25). The mean age of cases was 31.5 years and 83% were male, and there were no significant trends in demographic characteristics of cases over the study period. The median blood morphine concentration of cases was 0.39 mg/l (range 0.05–4.5 mg/l). Alcohol was detected in 50% of cases and benzodiazepines in 29%. There were large regional variations in toxicology results, with median blood morphine concentrations ranging from 0.25mg/l among south coast cases to 0.56mg/l in mid‐western New South Wales. Compared to Sydney metropolitan cases, regional cases had a higher median blood morphine concentration, were less likely to have cocaine detected, were more likely to have died in a home environment and to have been born in Australia.