Yellowknife (Oct 31/03) - Alcohol abuse continues to be a major factor in NWT deaths according to the 2002 Coroner's Report, released last week.

Drinking played a role in 80 per cent of homicides and 33 per cent of suicides during 2002, numbers Chief Coroner Percy Kinney said are alarmingly high.

"Alcohol (abuse) is a huge problem in the NWT in terms of suicides and homicides. It leads to a number of deaths that would otherwise be preventable."

Of the nine suicides in the NWT in 2002, three involved alcohol and two were committed by people under 21.

Kinney said his office has made a number of recommendations over the years --including creation of a detox centre-- but it's up to legislators to implement them.

"We've raised a number of issues and now it falls on the powers that be."

Over all, the NWT has a homicide rate of roughly 11 per 100,000 population, in line with the national average of 12.

But the suicide rate of 20 per 100,000 is nearly twice the national average.

"We still need to address issues like that," said Kinney.

There was some positive news in the coroner's report. Twenty-five percent of accidental deaths were alcohol related in 2002, down from 30 per cent in 2001.

It was the fourth year in a row the total has dropped from a high of 59 per cent in 1999, but Kinney cautioned the sample size is too small to draw firm conclusions.

"The trend appears to be heading down, but because we have so few cases, it's easy to skew the numbers."

Of the four alcohol related deaths ruled accidental in 2002, two were from alcohol poisoning, one from exposure and another was caused by a severe trauma to the head.

In most of those cases, the victims would still be alive said Kinney. The statistics don't include people who die from natural causes associated with alcohol abuse like cirrhosis of the liver.

"Really, alcohol is responsible for more deaths (than the report indicates)," said Kinney.