What does DRD mean in DRUGS

What Does DRD Mean?

DRD stands for Drug Related Death. As mentioned earlier, this refers to any death that is caused by or related to the use of drugs, either directly or indirectly. This includes overdoses, illnesses caused by drug use, and even fatalities due to drug-related violence or accidents. The circumstances of a DRD may vary significantly from case-to-case; however, it is important to understand that there does exist a relationship between the death and drugs in any given case.

How Is DRD Tracked?

DRDs are tracked by many public health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). The CDC collects data from across the United States from sources such as state mortality reports, coroner's offices, medical examiners' offices, hospitals and toxicology laboratories among others. DAWN is another national surveillance system that collects data from sources such as emergency departments, police departments and poison control centers regarding drug misuse incidents involving non-fatal outcomes as well as fatalities resulting from drug misuse incidents. In addition to these systems which monitor actual fatalities due to overdose or other causes related to drugs at a national level, many states also have their own monitoring systems that provide detailed information on DRDs specifically within that state. For example, states like Arizona have their own detailed reporting system called HEROs (Heroin Overdose Response Outreach Surveillance) which provides more detailed information about specific locations where overdose incidents occur due to heroin use specifically in Arizona.