COMPLEX FORENSIC MORPHOLOGICAL AND STATISTICAL STUDY OF DECEASED DRUG ADDICTS ON THE TERRITORY OF SOFIA-CITY AND SOFIA-DISTRICT FOR THE PERIOD 2013-2017

А complex forensic study of deceased with data of drug abuse is presented. Both morphological changes in different target tissues and organs related to prolonged intake of drugs and illicit substances and statistical representation of the frequency of such kind of deaths were investigated. The causes of death are compliant with drug types found in the chemical analysis of biological fluids and/or internal organ samples taken during the autopsies. The purpose of the study is to investigate and track the statistical changes for the indicated period to enrich and update the data from the systematic and periodic targeted mortality surveys conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Deontology in deceased with data on long-term use of narcotic substances, as well as the characteristic morphological changes identified therein. The conducted survey covers a five-year period (2013-2017) concerning all deceased undergoing forensic examination at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Deontology at the University Hospital "Aleksandrovska". Both macroscopic and microscopic morphological methods of investigation, autopsy and light microscopic examination of necropsy with classic and special stains, as well as statistical approaches, were used to schematically illustrate the obtained results. During the reported period, a total of 179 cases of deceased with drug abuse data were examined, taking into account their annual distribution as frequency, their causes of death and characteristic morphological changes in tissues and internal organs. The periodic statistical follow-up of cases of deceased drug abusers compared to their causes of death permits a wider and more up-to-date look at the type and distribution of drugs offered on the “black market”, which in turn allows for timely referral to the various institutions involved in countering drug trafficking, prevention and treatment of drug addicts