Drug overdose deaths continue to rise as advocates criticise government's 'regrettable' inaction

When police knocked on Jen Furby's door one night in May 2022, she secretly hoped her daughter had been arrested – because that meant she was still safe.

“When they came to the door, I asked, 'Is it bad?' They replied, 'Can we come in?'”

Jens’ daughter Nicole died of a fatal drug overdose at the age of only 25.

It was devastating.

“I am often [realise] that I will never see her, smell her, touch her, hear her, feel her and I just can't believe it,” Jen said.

Jen said Nicole loved animals, had great friends, made people laugh and enjoyed working in retail and as a hairdresser's assistant.

She said her daughter had been using drugs since she was a teenager, but the two were very close.

“We could laugh, joke, cry… we were just that relationship,” Jen said.

“I spoke to her the night she died. I was in the hospital… she called and asked, 'Is there anything I can do for you?' and I said, 'No, it's fine, I'll call you tomorrow.'”

Sobering statistics

Jen is now telling her family's story for the first time, as a new report reveals that the annual number of drug overdose deaths in Australia has almost doubled in the past 20 years.

According to the Penington Institute's annual drug overdose report, there were 2,356 drug-related deaths in 2022, 79 more than in 2021, or six deaths per day.

Eighty percent of overdose deaths were unintentional, and 73 percent involved two or more drugs.

These are cold, hard facts that reflect exactly what happened to Nicole.

When she died in her sleep near her mother's house, four different drugs were found in her system.

“It turned out that she had died from a mixture of different drugs. Who would have thought that such a thing existed?” said Jen.

John Ryan, CEO of the Penington Institute, said most overdose deaths are due to deaths caused by multiple substances.

“In combination, drugs have a multiplier effect,” he said.

“So if you take opioids and some alcohol, it actually increases your risk of overdose – and especially if you add benzodiazepines.”

While deaths from some prescription opioids have declined, the overall number of deaths from opioids, particularly heroin, has continued to rise, the Penington report said.

“What we've seen with opioids has been consistent for 20 years, which is that they are the leading cause of overdose deaths, typically in combination with other drugs,” Ryan said.

“More restrictive prescribing and dispensing – for example, moving codeine behind the counter – is a step in the right direction, but is not enough to solve the problem.”

Mr Ryan said synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and now nitazepine were increasingly appearing in overdose data.

“The problem is that they show up in counterfeit medicines without people knowing it … and it's the people who don't think they're taking Nitazene who are actually at the highest risk,” he said.

Inaction is “regrettable”

According to the Penington Institute, more than 42,000 Australians have died from overdoses since the turn of the century.

The organization said the number of deaths had almost doubled during this period, amounting to a “deepening national disaster.”

“Governments have shown they have the ability to take action to reduce deaths related to … drink-driving and plain tobacco packaging. But the inaction on reducing overdoses is regrettable,” Ryan said.

Australia needs to develop a national overdose strategy as soon as possible, focusing on seeking treatment and minimising harm, he said.

“We need politicians to end the fear campaigns surrounding drug use. This approach is dishonest and we know it doesn't work.”

Less than two percent of the national drug budget goes to harm reduction, Ryan said, while two-thirds goes to law enforcement.

The report also documented non-fatal overdoses and found that there were 135,179 alcohol and drug-related hospitalizations and more than 150,000 ambulance calls in 2021 and 2022.

Cigdem Watson, deputy chief executive of Family Drug Support, said many people survive overdoses and can be helped with harm reduction measures.

“There is hope. People often make it, but they have to be kept alive,” she said.

“With harm reduction initiatives, naloxone, pill testing, medically supervised injection centers, all of these things, we are giving people a chance to survive.”

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler described the Penington Institute’s findings as worrying.

“At the recent meeting of Australia's National Advisory Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, I was briefed on the increasing opioid harm in society and the emergence of Nitazene,” he said in a statement.

“This is something we are actively monitoring.”

Mr Butler said the government recently invested in a nationwide program to combat opioid addiction and expanded the Take-Home Naloxone Program, which provides free naloxone without a prescription.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the number of overdoses was a significant cause for concern.

“It is vital that the government continues to pursue harm reduction strategies and ensure the right support is available through a nationally coordinated response.”

Jen Furby said her daughter Nicole had a hard time getting help – not just for her drug use, but also for mental health issues and financial support.

She wants to see less money spent on drug control and more money put into survival aid and for people with drug experience to have a say in solving the problem.

As hard as it was to lose Nicole back then, Jens’ pain still resonates today.

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