Drug user deaths by hanging trebles since 2004
The number of drug users who have died each year by hanging has trebled since 2004, official figures show.
More than 90 people with a history of drug use took their lives in this way in 2016, according to data from the Health Research Board.
Cocaine, followed by cannabis, were the most common drugs used by those who died by this method — though this does not mean the drugs were directly implicated in the deaths.
The National Drug-Related Deaths Index shows that three out of four people who died from hanging had a known history of mental health problems.
There has also been a significant rise, particularly since 2014, in deaths as a result of liver disease.
According to the index, a total of 736 lives were lost in drug-related deaths in 2016.
This is the highest figure since records began in 2004, although it is just marginally higher than 2015 (735).
The figure has increased consistently since 2004 (431), rising to 629 in 2008 and to 661 in 2012.
The 736 deaths comprise:
- 354 deaths caused by poisonings or overdoses
- 382 non-poisoning deaths, either due to trauma (172) or medical causes (210)
Non-poisonings are described as deaths among people with a history of drug dependency or problematic use, whether or not the drugs have a direct impact on the cause of death.
This category of deaths has increased the most since records began — more than doubling since 2004.
The number has risen from 165 in 2004, to 242 in 2008, and to 305 in 2012. In 2015, these deaths, for the first time, surpassed those of overdoses, when there were 370 such fatalities, compared to 365 overdoses.
While there was a marginal rise in overdoses in 2016, there was a greater increase in non-poisonings, 370 to 382.
In relation to non-poisoning deaths, they are broken down between deaths as a result of trauma, such as hanging, drowning, road traffic accidents, and shootings/stabbings, and [on the other hand] medical causes such as cardiac events, liver disease, and cancer.
“Hangings remain a significant factor in non-poisoning deaths,” said senior HRB researcher Suzi Lyons.
The rise in hanging deaths is particularly stark — trebling over the 13 years. It has increased from 30 in 2004, to 46 in 2008, to 75 in 2012 and to 93 in 2016 (reaching a peak of 98 in 2014).
Three in every four people who die by hanging had a known history of mental health problems,” said Dr Lyons.
Other figures show that there were nine fatalities as a result of shootings in 2016 — a figure that has ranged between five and 10 annually since 2004.
In addition, there were six deaths from stabbing in 2016.
Figures on deaths from medical causes show there were 56 fatalities (15% of total) from cardiac events.
Deaths as a result of liver disease (including alcohol cirrhosis and Hepatitis C due to sharing of contaminated injecting equipment) have jumped from eight in 2009, to 21 in 2013, and to 45 in 2016.
