Drug-related deaths are rising

In 2001, more than one in eight deaths in men aged 15 to 44 were caused by drug poisoning.

The latest official statistics have prompted claims that ministers are not doing enough to tackle the problem.

They also show the impact of Dr Harold Shipman's killing spree - he carried out 1% of all murders in England and Wales between 1975 and 1998.

Health figures

Other studies have suggested steep rises in the rate of drug and alcohol-related deaths in the UK.

There is concern over "binge drinking" - thought to be the most harmful to health.

Overall, the mortality rate for men and women aged 15 to 44 has fallen over the past three decades.

However, despite this, the rate of drug related deaths - a combination of deliberate and accidental overdoses - have risen steadily.

In young adults, the most common cause was overdose with heroin or morphine.

In the early 1980s, alcohol-related deaths, which include not only health problems caused by alcohol, but also homicides and accidents where alcohol was a significant factor, accounted for approximately 2% of all deaths in the young adult age group.

In 2001, that has risen to at least 6%.

The figures prompted renewed calls for government action.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris said: "Excessive boozing kills four times as many people as drug abuse.

"Alcohol abuse causes other problems too - one in seven 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK admits to unsafe sex after drinking.

"The government says it will finally implement its alcohol strategy in 2004. That is six years since it was announced in 1998.

"Our research shows that up to 240,000 people could have died from alcohol misuse within that time."

Shipman toll

However a remarkable footnote to the official figures was an adjustment made by statisticians to take account of the patients murdered by Dr Harold Shipman, the Hyde GP who is thought to have killed at least 215 of his patients.

Between 1975 and 1998, his murders account for 1% of all murders in England and Wales. He carried out 6% of all poisoning murders.

In 1997, he committed 6% of the total for the two countries and almost half of all poisoning murders.

Shipman was convicted only of 15 murders in court, but the subsequent inquiry decided that he had killed 215 - 171 women and 44 men.

There were a further 45 deaths which were suspicious, but not proven as murder.