Three die each week from accidental drug overdoses, report finds

On average, three people die every week in New Zealand from accidental drug overdoses, according to a New Zealand Drug Foundation report analysing coronial data. RNZ

The report records a provisional 169 accidental overdose deaths in 2025. Between 2016 and 2025, the total was 1440 deaths. The foundation's executive director is Sarah Helm.

The death rate was 2.3 times higher among Māori than non-Māori. In about 85 percent of cases, more than one substance was involved, with depressants such as opioids, benzodiazepines and alcohol featuring heavily.

Napier mother Jo Newton lost her 32-year-old son, Stewart Pledger-Davies. He had lived with her in Napier for the month before he died.

Newton said she phoned a rehabilitation centre a week before his death and was told there were no places for at least two weeks. He was later picked up by police not far from home and died in the back of a police car on the way to Hastings Hospital.

His case is still before the coroner. Newton said an autopsy found only meth in his system. She keeps a vial of naloxone in her house.