File photo. Photo: 123RF
Drug overdose deaths are up 54 percent according to a new Drug Foundation report.
Analysis of coronial data shows 171 people died in 2021, up from 111 in 2017.
The report says the increase is driven by use of opioids, alcohol, benzodiazepines, and synthetic cannabinoids.
Many overdose deaths were a result of mixing drugs, with opioids featured in almost half of fatalities over the past five years.
Over-the-counter medicine was listed as being present in more than three quarters (77 percent) of deaths.
There has also been a sharp increase in alcohol-related overdose deaths in 2020 and 2021.
Māori are three times more likely to overdose than Pākehā.
Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said it was deeply concerning and there needed to be fundamental drug reform.
"There is so much we could and should be doing to prevent these deaths. The increasing numbers of people dying from overdose should be ringing alarm bells for policymakers."
Meanwhile, she said a quick and cheap measure would be more funding for the drug naloxone which was incredibly effective at reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.
Helm said the foundation had just received a supply of the medication in its injectable form.
"Finally this week, after applying some for some regulatory changes, we were able to start to procure some of the injectable version of naloxone," she said.
They were now putting the finishing touches on an application to Pharmac to fund the nasal spray.
She said with highly potent opioids like fentanyl on the scene - of which only a few grains could be the difference between life and death - making the medication easier to use would save lives should it begin to appear more frequently.
A couple of summers ago, a similar drug reared its head, and things could have been a lot different.
"Our MDMA supply, within the space of two months, became adulterated with a synthetic cathenone called eutylone," Helm said.
"In fact, eutylone turned up at every music festival that summer. Now if that had been fentanyl, we would have lost a lot of lives."
An overdose prevention centre pilot in central Auckland was also needed to address recurring overdoses.
The country desperately needed an overdose prevention strategy, she said so far, we hadn't acted because our numbers had remained relatively low.
North America was currently seeing seeing huge numbers of opioid and fentanyl overdoses, and Helm warned we could be next.