German drug deaths fall

22 April 2004

BERLIN – The number drug deaths in Germany fell again last year and are at the lowest level since 1989, the government said Thursday in a report.

A total of 1,477 people died in 2003 after consuming illegal drugs such as heroin, said the report.

This was 2.4 percent fewer deaths than in 2002 and comes after a major decline of over 17 percent in 2001.

The fall in drug deaths is due to better programmes both to treat people who are using drugs and to provide medical care to stabilise their health, said the government’s special commissioner for drug abuse, Marion Caspers-Merk.

Growing alcohol abuse among youths, especially binge drinking, remains a major concern, said Caspers-Merk.

Smoking remains a further major health problem in Germany with 110,000 people dying each year due to tobacco, said the report. About 34 percent of all Germans smoke, down from 37 percent in 1997.

DPA

Subject: German news