From BZ/afp
The number of drug-related deaths in Germany has risen again.
Last year, 1990 people died from the consumption of illegal drugs, as the Federal Drug Commissioner Burkhard Blienert (SPD) announced on Thursday in Berlin.
This was an increase of almost nine percent compared to 2021. According to the information, the main causes of death were heroin abuse and long-term effects of drug use. The number of drug-related deaths has been increasing for several years.
More than 80 percent of drug-related deaths are men
As in previous years, most of the deaths in 2022 were in the populous federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia with 703, Bavaria with 277 and Berlin with 230. More than 80 percent of the drug-related deaths – 1,684 cases – were men.
Blienert called for “a paradigm shift” in drug policy: “Addiction is a disease, not a stigma – people suffering from addiction should no longer be excluded,” he explained. “That’s why we have to talk about drug use, about better addiction help and more prevention.”
“More low-threshold help that reaches people faster and more directly is needed,” explained Blienert. “From drug consumption rooms to substitution facilities to shelters for homeless addicts – these are all tried and tested measures against illegal drug abuse because they can be the first step towards quitting.”
Blienert also emphasized that the consequences of an addiction often also affect family members and friends of the addict. Better support for parents, partners and children of addicted people is therefore necessary.
The drug commissioner called on the federal states in particular to take action. “The topic of addiction belongs in the ministries and senates of the federal states at the executive level,” he explained. “In addition, savings in addiction counseling and contact points must become an absolute taboo.”