University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, Toronto, Canada.
Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2023 Sep;19(3):357-363. doi: 10.1007/s12024-022-00573-3. Epub 2023 Jan 23.
The opioid crisis is a significant public health issue in North America that began in the 1990s with opioid-related deaths increasing each year. Although studies have been published regarding the incidence of opioid-related deaths in the general population, there is limited information regarding deaths in the prison population. To investigate the impact of the opioid epidemic in this vulnerable population, a retrospective study of all drug-related deaths that occurred in correctional facilities and penitentiaries in Ontario, Canada, between January 2009 and December 2019 was conducted. A total of 90 deaths were attributed to acute drug toxicity and the decedents ranged in age from 18 to 63 years and comprised 81 men and 9 women. The results of this study indicate the number of drug-related fatalities have increased by 375% (from 4 to 19) over the last 11 years. The detection of opioids in drug-related deaths has increased with fentanyl being the most frequently detected drug. Data also indicates the recent emergence of fentanyl-related analogues in this population. The results from this study provide valuable information about drug-related deaths in the Ontario prison system and provide insight into how the opioid crisis and the increased use of fentanyl and its analogues have affected this vulnerable population.
阿片类药物危机是北美一个重大的公共卫生问题，始于 20 世纪 90 年代，阿片类药物相关死亡人数逐年增加。尽管已经发表了关于普通人群中阿片类药物相关死亡人数的研究，但关于监狱人群中死亡人数的信息有限。为了研究阿片类药物泛滥对这一弱势群体的影响，对加拿大安大略省 2009 年 1 月至 2019 年 12 月期间在惩教设施和监狱中发生的所有与药物有关的死亡进行了回顾性研究。共有 90 人死于急性药物毒性，死者年龄在 18 至 63 岁之间，其中 81 名男性和 9 名女性。这项研究的结果表明，在过去 11 年中，与药物有关的死亡人数增加了 375%（从 4 人增加到 19 人）。与药物有关的死亡中检测到的阿片类药物有所增加，芬太尼是最常检测到的药物。数据还表明，在这一人群中，最近出现了芬太尼相关类似物。这项研究的结果提供了有关安大略省监狱系统中与药物有关的死亡的有价值的信息，并深入了解阿片类药物危机以及芬太尼及其类似物的使用增加如何影响这一弱势群体。
