THE rate of unintentional overdoses in Tamworth and Gunnedah has jumped threefold in the past 10 years, new figures show.
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The figures - which show you're 33 per cent more likely to die of an unintentional overdose in the bush than in Sydney - have been revealed in Australia's Annual Overdose Report from the Penington Institute.
Between 2013 and 2017, 25 people died from unintentional overdoses in the Tamworth and Gunnedah area - a 257 per cent jump on the same four-year period, a decade ago.
In comparison, between 2003 and 2007 there were seven deaths in the same locations.
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"Not only is this a massive 257 per cent increase on the five years between 2003 and 2007 - it's 25 too many," Penington Institute's chief executive officer John Ryan said.
"That whole idea that overdose is a city problem is wrong. It's a rural, regional and country problem."
The overdose crisis means you're almost twice as likely to die of an unintentional drug overdose in regional NSW today than a decade ago, Mr Ryan said.
"Ten years ago, people were more likely to die of an unintentional overdose in Sydney than regional NSW. Today, that's completely turned around. That points to a massive failure to provide the kind of services and interventions that we know save lives," he said.
While illegal drugs are on the list of drugs to blame, so are pharmaceutical drugs.
"The old idea that it's illegal drugs like heroin or something is wrong, too. Many of the overdoses are pharmaceutical drugs," Mr Ryan said.
"Deaths in regional NSW involving benzodiazepines, pharmaceutical opioids and stimulants are almost double those of Sydney in recent years."
He said the report also found that not only are residents of regional NSW dying from unintentional overdoses at rates 33 per cent higher than in Sydney, the rate of unintentional overdose deaths in regional NSW has increased by 42 per cent in just five years.
"Our report doesn't investigate the reasons. We're looking much more at the numbers, but I think there's a general problem, which is that some people are entering into overdose risk via pharmaceutical drugs - and they're entering into pharmaceutical drugs via workplace accidents, road accidents or sporting accidents," Mr Ryan said.
"But I think on a broader level, we have to admit there is a lack of healthcare in regional and rural areas, compared to the cities; and also, the distances in terms of emergency response are greater in country areas, typically, so there's a lot of contributors to the increasing overdose toll."
