COCAINE-RELATED DEATHS

Cocaine availability has been increasing in Spain in the past few year s. A review of all the toxicological analyses carried out at the Madri d Department of the Institute Nacional de Toxicologia, with subjects w ho had died of drugs from 1990 to 1992, found 533 persons who had coca ine in their blood and/or tissues; 450 (84%) deaths involved cocaine a nd heroin together whereas 83 (16%) deaths involved cocaine with an ab sence of heroin. This paper reports the circumstances, cocaine and ben zoylecgonine concentrations in the blood and other toxicological findi ngs for the two major groups of deaths where cocaine was found with an absence of heroin, i.e., possible overdose cases (35 cases) and traff ic accidents (23 cases).