Written Question · S2W-23805 · Session 2
Whether deaths recorded as a result of drug overdose or misuse are legally registered as drug-related.
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether deaths recorded as a result of drug overdose or misuse are legally registered as drug-related.
The answer
The General Register Office forScotland (GROS) classifies all deaths registered in Scotland usingthe Tenth Revision of the World Health Organisation’s International StatisticalClassification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD10). This classificationclearly identifies all deaths resulting from drug overdose or misuse.
Each year GROS publishes a shortpaper entitled Drug-Related Deaths in Scotland. This paper uses an agreedUKdefinition of drug-related deaths which includes all deaths coded to drug misusetogether with other deaths involving drugs listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act.The latest issue of this paper, which includes further information on the definitionused, may be found on the GROS website using the following link:
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/drug-related-deaths/04drug-related-deaths.html.
Each year GROS publishes a shortpaper entitled Drug-Related Deaths in Scotland. This paper uses an agreedUKdefinition of drug-related deaths which includes all deaths coded to drug misusetogether with other deaths involving drugs listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act.The latest issue of this paper, which includes further information on the definitionused, may be found on the GROS website using the following link:
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/drug-related-deaths/04drug-related-deaths.html.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S2W-23805 by reference.