List of deaths from drug overdose and intoxication

Drug overdose and intoxication are significant causes of accidental death and can also be used as a form of suicide.

[5][6] Cocaine and various opiates were subsequently mass-produced and sold openly and legally in the Western world, resulting in widespread misuse and addiction.

[10] Efforts to prohibit various drugs began to be enacted in the early 20th century, though the effectiveness of such policies is debated.

Between 2000 and 2014, fatal overdoses rose 137% in the United States, causing nearly half a million deaths in that period,[11] and have also been continually increasing in Australia,[12] Scotland,[13][14] England, and Wales.

[19] As of 2016[update], benzodiazepines were most likely to cause fatal overdose in Australia,[20] with diazepam (Valium) being the drug most responsible.