Number of Drug-related Deaths
According to the EMCDDA standard definition that only counts deaths directly related to drug consumption, there were 157 drug-related deaths recorded in 2006, of a total Swedish population of 9.2 million (1.7 people per 100,000). Morphine (including Heroin), methadone and amphetamines cause most of the registered drug-related deaths in Sweden. In the same year, the number of drug-related recorded deaths in the Netherlands amounted to 112, of a total population of 16.5 million (0.68 people per 100,000). The reported drug-related death rate in U.S was 12.6 per 100,000, the reported drug-related death rate in the U.K was 39.8 per 100,000.
In Sweden, drug-related deaths is counted in three ways. One is according to the EMCDDA definition for international comparisons presented above, but a general weakness of the EMCDDA's statistics is that many drug-related deaths are treated as death of natural causes even though the deaths are due to a disease that typically comes after a long period of substance abuse or due to an accident under influence of drugs. The other two take that in account and find usage in national comparisons over time. The longest series of statistics is from the register on Causes of Death, it includes cases where drug-related diagnoses is noted on the death certificate both as direct and underlying cause. There is also a line of statistics for which all cases where illicit drugs are detected in the blood of the deceased is registered, the so-called Toxbase. Using the definition for Toxbase, 292 cases where drug-related in 2006. With the definition for the register of causes of death, 242 cases were drug-related in 2006.
Read more about this topic: Drug Policy Of Sweden
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