Intentional drug poisonings resulted in 14,720 emergency department visits in 2009, with females accounting for nearly two-thirds of the number, according to a report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Perpetrators used a wide range of substances, including alcohol, illicit drugs, and pharmaceuticals to intentionally harm their victims or render them defenseless. The victims ingested, inhaled, or in some way took in these potentially harmful substances without their knowledge.
Alcohol was involved in the majority (60%) of cases, while illicit drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy, stimulants, and cocaine were used 30% of the time. Pharmaceuticals, such as drugs for insomnia, anxiety, and pain, were involved in about one-fifth (21 %) of the cases. In addition, 73% of drug-related emergency department (ED) visits tied to intentional poisoning were made by patients who were aged 21 years or older, according to the report, which was released Nov. 3.
A combination of drugs and alcohol was used 46% of the time. These combinations can be especially dangerous, because alcohol can amplify the other drug’s effect.
"The danger of being tricked into ingesting an unknown substance is all too real at bars, raves, parties, or concerts where alcohol and other substances are shared in a social manner," Pamela S. Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said in a statement. "Not only is the health of the person who is poisoned compromised, they are in jeopardy of falling prey to other crimes such as robbery and sexual assault."
Victims can experience drowsiness, loss of consciousness, or memory loss because of intentional poisoning, and therefore can be extremely vulnerable.
The report recommends educational campaigns aimed at promoting using the "buddy system," in which friends ensure each other’s safety and to encourage people to seek medical care immediately if poisoning is suspected. It also supported the use of informational campaigns that would raise public awareness about the risks involved with leaving beverages unattended and accepting alcohol or other drugs from others – either from strangers or from people they know.
For physicians, the report contains important messages, Dr. Mark S. Gold said in an interview.
"On college campuses and cities around the USA, these data should remind us to listen to the patient, examine them, take them very seriously, and test them when the evidence points toward a medication, drug, and/or alcohol poisoning," said Dr. Gold, chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Dr. Robert L. DuPont said in an interview that the findings are reminiscent of an adage from Alcoholics Anonymous: "If you don’t want to slip, avoid slippery places.
"Intentional poisonings occur almost exclusively in very slippery places," said Dr. DuPont, the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and now head of the Institute for Behavior and Health, a drug policy nonprofit in Rockville, Md. "The public health message from these disturbing new statistics is: ‘Stay out of slippery places.’ "
The report, "Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits Attributed to Intentional Poisoning," was developed from data obtained from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Drug Abuse Warning Network, a nationwide health surveillance system that monitors drug-related emergency visits.