A comparison of attendance for drug misuse to Dublin accident & emergency departments 1985-1993.

We compared attendance by Drug Misusers to the Accident & Emergency Departments (A&E) in the greater Dublin area during September 1985 and April 1993. The study took the form of a questionnaire administered by the previously trained A&E staff to attenders who were currently (within the past six months): experimenting with drugs, abusing drugs or drug dependent. Seventy three drug misusers were identified in September 1985 and 68 in April 1993. Poly substance misuse was a major feature of the 1993 survey and Benzodiazepines replaced Heroin as the major drug of misuse. There was a significant increase in the misuse of prescribed opiates, in particular morphine sulphate, methadone and DF118. Physical problems associated with drug misuse were more common in 1993 because of the new trend of crushing and injecting the morphine sulphate tablet. Patients continue to inject drugs and are poor attenders at needle exchange programmes. We feel that all doctors should exercise caution in their prescribing habits in view of the alarming increase in the misuse of prescribed medication as indicated by our figures.