'Prohibition causes harm': Coroner in charge of inquest into six opioid deaths urges the government to hold summit on decriminalising drug use Deputy Coroner recommended a summit be held on decriminalising drug use Harriet Grahame delivered findings of inquest into the deaths of six opioid users She said during the inquest it was 'alarmingly clear' the deaths were preventable She recommended NSW Health hold a summit based on drug decriminalisation By Tom Place For Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press Published: 05:47 GMT, 1 March 2019 | Updated: 05:47 GMT, 1 March 2019 Viewcomments A coroner in charge of an inquest into opioid deaths has recommended a drug summit to consider the decriminalisation of personal drug use. New South Wales Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame said prohibition policies have failed, and suggested a harm minimisation strategy instead. Ms Grahame delivered her findings on Friday into the accidental drug overdose deaths of five men and one woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as a result of heroin or multi-drug toxicity in 2016. The inquest, called after a spike in drug-related deaths that year, heard that there is 'considerable slippage and overlap' in the use of the terms opiate and opioid however they include morphine, codeine, heroin and fentanyl. The Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame said upon investigating six drug overdoses in a recent inquiry it become 'alarmingly clear' that the deaths were preventable 'Lowering the rate of opioid overdose is clearly achievable but it will require a government willing to listen to health experts and to act decisively on their advice,' Ms Grahame said. 'As former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Mick Palmer, told the inquest, it will require us to rethink our drug policy - "we can't prohibition our way out of the current problem".' The coroner made a number of recommendations including that the Department of Premier and Cabinet host a drug summit to consider ways of reducing drug overdose deaths and minimising harm to users, their families and the community. Decriminalising personal use of drugs and reducing the stigma and shame currently associated with drug use should be fully and genuinely considered at the expert conference, she said. Ms Grahame further recommended an action plan be developed after the summit with a comprehensive whole of government and community approach to managing illicit drug use. She also made a number of recommendations to NSW emergency services and the state's health and justice departments regarding naloxone nasal spray - a medicine that can be administered to reverse opiate overdose. 'I remain deeply troubled by the evidence arising from this inquest,' the coroner said. 'In my view, it clearly establishes that many opiate and opioid-related deaths are genuinely preventable if we, as a community, are prepared to rethink our approach to drug policy.' NSW Labor has pledged to hold a summit with police, addiction specialists and other stakeholders if elected on March 23. Ms Grahame will oversee an inquest later this year into the deaths of five people killed by suspected drug overdoses at music festivals in late 2018 and early 2019. Premier Gladys Berejiklian commissioned an expert panel to investigate the festival deaths but its terms of reference restricted it from considering pill testing. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility