Majority of Cork heroin deaths due to mixing drugs

Meeting hears 87 people have died from opiate-related deaths in city since 2004.

The vast majority of the 87 heroin-related deaths in Cork over the past decade were caused by users taking the opiate with other drugs such as valium and xanax, a new study has found.

Cork City Coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane said an analysis of opiate related deaths in Cork city found the vast majority stemmed from polysubstance abuse and not from heroin on its own.

Dr Cullinane that most of the deaths involved heroin or some other opiate such as methadone being taken in conjunction with benzodiazepines such as Valium or Xanax.

Speaking at a Cork City Joint Policing Committee meeting, Dr Cullinane said that a study carried out by her office found that there were no heroin-related deaths in Cork prior to 2004. However, that year, she dealt with two heroin-related deaths and the figures continued to rise up until 2009 when it reached its peak with some 17 heroin-related deaths being recorded.

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Source: Barry Roche, The Irish Times, 19/05/15