R. D. Budd, D. M. Lindstrom, E. C. Griesemer, T. T. Noguchi
A study of the frequency of deaths resulting from the use of drugs and chemicals in Los Angeles County in the period 1947 - 1980 indicated that there was a substantial increase in the number of such deaths in 1968/69. This trend continued until 1976/77 when the number of deaths decreased, and the declining trend continued until 1979/80. An additional study in the period 1974 - 1981, based on the analyses of 35 drugs in biological samples taken in autopsies, showed that those drugs were more often present in overdose cases of death than in drug-related cases of death where drugs were not directly responsible for the occurrence of death. Ethanol and phencyclidine were, however, more frequently found in drug-related cases of death.