Drug use & health consequences>>Polydrug use

Polydrug use patterns in drug-related deaths

The limited data available suggest that most overdose deaths involve multiple substances.

  • Toxicological findings from 22 countries show that a median of 67 per cent of overdose deaths involve more than one substance.
  • In 17 countries with available data, opioids and sedatives/tranquilizers are most often implicated in drug-related deaths – often used in combination.