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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth