Drug-related problems in London accident and emergency departments. A twelve month survey.

A prospective survey in seven hospitals revealed that the rate of drug-related attendances in the casualty population was 18.3 per 1000. 60% of these patients were under 30 years of age and 59% were female. At least 32% were dependent on drugs; and barbiturates, the drugs used most frequently in overdoses, had been obtained illegally in 77% of cases. During the course of the year there was a sharp decline in figures for barbiturates, explainable almost entirely in terms of fewer overdoses by drug-dependent individuals, but there was a steady rise in the use of minor tranquillisers, alcohol, and aspirin/codeine compounds.