Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jun 2005
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2005 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Author: Jessica  Heslam
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

REPORT SHOWS BAY STATE SPIKE IN OPIOID DEATHS

The number of Bay Staters -especially young people - dying from 
overdoses  of heroin, OxyContin and other opioids has skyrocketed, 
according to a new state report. Officials  said 836 people died from 
"poisonings" in 2003. Of those, 574 died from  overdosing on the 
class of drugs known as opioids. That's six  times the number of Bay 
Staters - 94 - who died of opioid overdoses in 1990.

Driving the  spike is the cheap, high-purity heroin that hit 
Massachusetts streets - and  streets throughout New England - in the 
mid to late 1990s. Health officials also  have been concerned about 
the number of OxyContin overdoses during the past five  years.

"We've  been very concerned in terms of young-adult use rates in 
OxyContin," said  Michael Botticelli, assistant commissioner for 
substance abuse services at the  state _Department  of Public Health_ 
(http://news.bostonherald.com/search/?searchSite=recent&keyword=Department 
of Public Health) . "We are  always concerned when we see these kinds 
of numbers," Botticelli said. Fatal  opioid overdoses were highest 
among Hispanics, the report shows. Injuries,  which include drug 
overdoses, car accidents and falls, were the No. 1 cause of  death 
among people under age 44, the report said. The report  also shows 
heart disease and cancer are still the leading causes of death in 
Massachusetts, accounting for nearly half of all deaths. But 
the  good news is fewer Bay Staters are dying from the diseases. 
Officials credit  prevention initiatives and healthier lifestyles for 
the decline. The life  expectancy in Massachusetts is higher than the 
national average. A woman born in  the Bay State can expect to live 
to age 81, while a man's life expectancy is 76.

The report  also showed women represent a growing percentage of 
people dying from HIV/AIDS -  from one in nine HIV/AIDS deaths in 
1989 to one in three deaths in 2003.

There was a  24 percent decline in the Bay State homicide rate from 
2002 to 2003.
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MAP posted-by: Beth