Frequency of non-fatal heroin overdose: survey of heroin users recruited in non-clinical settings

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Abstract
During 1994, 438 heroin users were contacted and interviewed by privileged access interviewers4 as part of a study of early and episodic heroin users. Information on demographics, patterns of drug use, and overdose was collected by structured interviews. Onset of heroin use was comparatively recent for many of our sample (11% were in the first year of heroin use and 48% in the first three years of use), and many of our sample were not severely dependent on heroin (45% scoring 6 or less on the severity of dependence scale5). The average age in the sample was 28 years (range 13-54 years); two thirds (68%) were men.