Ireland sees twice as many die from overdoses in 2012 as in traffic accidents
Ireland is one of the top five European countries for the number of people suffering an overdose.
The figure is being highlighted on International Overdose Awareness Day.
It takes place around the globe today, and is coordinated by Penington Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
During 2012, there were 350 overdose deaths in Ireland - twice the number of people killed in road traffic accidents in the same year.
Director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, Tony Duffin, has outlined some ideas that would help tackle the issue, including setting a target for the number of overdoses.
He said: "We do that in other areas; naturally if you're strategically planning for anything you set yourself a target.
"We need a national overdose prevention strategy to be published as soon as possible so we can organise ourselves well."
Mr Duffin said it is not just drugs like heroin that kill people through overdose.
He said: "We know that heroin use, for example, is very high Europe-wise - but heroin use is not the only drug that people are overdosing on.
"So it's a polydrug use problem; for example we know that one in five of the overdose deaths that occurred in 2012 solely involved alcohol."
