WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- There were 365 drug abuse-related deaths in Dallas and five surrounding counties in 2001, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced today. The data is from a new report, Mortality Data From the Drug Abuse Warning Network, 2001 (DAWN), which tracks deaths associated with drug abuse in a number of cities.

The data shows that cocaine was mentioned in 185 of the fatalities, while alcohol-in-combination with at least one other drug was noted in 138. There were 115 mentions of narcotic pain medications associated with the deaths. Since many fatalities are due to multi-drug use, there can often be more drug mentions than deaths. Data from Dallas County and the counties of Collin, Denton, Ellis, and Kaufman were also included.

"One life lost to drugs is one too many. Effective prevention and treatment programs are key to helping reduce the needless loss of life that results from abuse of drugs," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie. "We are working with states and local drug treatment providers to build treatment capacity and to implement the most effective treatment services available."

Drug abuse deaths in Dallas increased from 320 in 2000 to 365 in 2001, but were still below the 379 reached in 1997. DAWN data represents the deaths related to drug abuse in 94 percent of the area's population.

The DAWN mortality data involve deaths that are drug-induced -- one or more of the drugs directly caused the death -- or drug-related -- drug abuse was a contributing factor in the death. DAWN counts decedents who used the substance due to dependence, to achieve psychic effects or to commit suicide. It does not count drug abuse unrelated to the death, such as a past history of drug abuse but none used at the time of death. DAWN also does not track accidental ingestion or inhalation or adverse reactions to medications.

Participation in DAWN is voluntary and jurisdictions that do not provide sufficient data are not listed. DAWN counts of drug abuse deaths therefore do not represent national data. The full tables are available online at http://www.samhsa.gov. Click on statistics and data.

SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States.