Heroin, Cocaine, and Alcohol + Drugs Top Lists of Drug-Related
Deaths Heroin, cocaine, and alcohol-in-combination with other
drugs were the three most common substances implicated in drug-
related deaths by medical examiners participating in SAMHSA's
Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) in 2000. Narcotic
analgesics—including methadone, codeine, hydrocodone, and
oxycodone—also frequently ranked in the top 10 drugs mentioned
by medical examiners in the survey. In 2000, 137 medical-
examiner jurisdictions from 43 metropolitan areas reported on
drug-related deaths to DAWN. Among the jurisdictions
participating, the highest numbers of drug-related deaths were
reported from Los Angeles (1,192), Philadelphia (942), New York
(924), Chicago (869), and Detroit (704). Twenty or fewer drug
abuse deaths were reported from Boulder, Casper, Fargo,
Indianapolis, Manchester-Nashua, Middlesex-Somerset, and Sioux
Falls. However, not all jurisdictions within these metropolitan
areas necessarily participate in DAWN. The report, Mortal