Overdose deaths leap 45%

Deaths in Portugal due to drug overdoses increased by 45% in 2021 compared to 2020. That said, the official number of deaths from overdoses was pegged at 74. There were also another 339 deaths from ‘other causes’ with “positive toxicology results”. João Goulão, director-general of SICAD (the intervention service on addictive behaviours and addictions) has told a parliamentary hearing that both these findings rank as the highest for more than a decade. Deaths from cocaine overdoses (up by 51%) are also the highest for more than a decade.