Cocaine Induced Deaths

Source: Centers for Disease Control, CDC Wonder System

Categorizations and Mortality Figures for Cocaine Induced Death

Cocaine Induced Deaths (1979-1998)
ICD-9 code	Code Definition	Number of Deaths	% of Total
304.2	Drug Dependence	187	1.03
305.6	Nondependent Abuse	2,388	13.17
855.2	Accidental Poisoning	15,551	85.8

As with opiate induced deaths, those caused by cocaine are mostly (86 percent) due to accidental overdoses. Again, like opiates, the distribution of death over age groups is random, thus closely approximates the "standard curve." If cocaine of known dosage and purity were available, the number of accidental overdose deaths would rapidly decline. Somehow it hardly seems "compassionate" to allow these hapless souls to die when their deaths could easily be avoided.