Nearly Half of Recent Rotorua Drug Overdose Patients Were Under 18

Youth made up almost half of those rushed to Rotorua’s emergency department for drug overdoses in the past three months, new data reveals.

Eleven of the 21 people admitted to Rotorua Hospital for drug abuse between July and September were 18 and under.

The Rotorua Daily Post requested the figures under the Official Information Act, as part of their report into the use of prescription drugs at schools. The investigation follows a 16-year-old’s non-fatal overdose on nine Tramadol pills another student gave him.

The father, who remains anonymous, said he had no idea the use of prescription drugs in schools was an issue until his son experimented with them because he was "bored with school". "Seeing my son like he was and then being told he had dodged a bullet by both the paramedics and the doctor in ED, was such a scary thing to hear.

"To hear it's just glossed over by some kids saying 'everyone's doing it' was also a shock,” he told the Rotorua Daily Post.

An emergency department worker told the father prescription drug abuse was widespread and growing among high school students. "I have witnessed first-hand the results of people who use synthetic cannabis, and what it can do to you, but prescription drugs now seem to be the go-to drugs to get high among school kids.”

The recently revealed figures do not break down which drug caused each overdose, but they do suggest youth abusing drugs in the town, in general, is on the rise.

From July 2017 to June 2018, 31 of the 79 people admitted to Rotorua Hospital for drug overdoses were 18 and under, compared with 13 out of 87 between July 2016 and June 2017 – an increase of 24 percent in just one year.