Fatal uncertainty: death-rate from use of ecstasy or heroin Original Research Article

We provide a 25-fold range for the ecstacy-related death rate per 10 000 15–24-year-old users in the UK: from 0·2 to 5·3, compared with the death rate of 1·0 from road traffic accidents in the same age-group. The heroin-related death rate in 15–24-year-old heroin users was much higher, but also imprecisely estimated: from 9·1 to 81·5 deaths per 10 000 15–24-year-old users. Data deficiencies which inhibit the calculation of drug-specific rates in this population should be remedied.