Both Victoria and Western Australia felt the heat of a statistical spotlight last week after drug-death data from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) was commissioned by the News Ltd media company. A total of 1,049 drug-related deaths were recorded between 2007 and 2012, where illicit drugs were the primary or secondary cause.
The reason for Victoria's concern was published by the Herald Sun news outlet on Saturday, after the NCIS report revealed that stimulant drugs amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine were "connected to fatalities at an unprecedented rate." The state was required to deal with one such death almost on a weekly basis during the time frame that the data was recorded in.
The Victorian article noted that amphetamine products, including crystal methamphetamine—commonly referred to by its street name "ice"—were associated with 917 of the state's deaths. The publication managed to speak with the father of one of the victims, Nick Doyle, whose step-daugher was shot dead in a drug-related incident in 2013:
"It [crystal methamphetamine] destroyed Kara, unfortunately. My heart goes out to every other family who has to go through the same thing"
The Herald Sun also published details of deaths in other states, including jockey Stathi Katsidis from Queensland and a teenager who died after taking ecstasy tablets at the 2009 Big Day Out music festival.
For Western Australia, a Monday article on the Perth Now website conveyed astonishment because the state accounted for nearly a quarter of the total death toll. Even though WA consists of a far lower population level, the 250 fatalities that came from the state represented 23 per cent of the deaths recorded across the country.
A total of 300 deaths occurred in New South Wales, while 207 was the toll in Victoria.