Highlights from this report include: in 1990, 5,830 deaths involving drug abuse were reported to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN); of the 5,830 deaths, 71 percent were male, 53 percent were White, 29 percent were Black, and 16 percent were Hispanic; 23 percent of the decedents were aged 18 to 29, while 23 percent were aged 45 or older; multiple drugs were reported in 76 percent of deaths, with cocaine reported in 43 percent of the drug-related deaths followed by alcohol-in-combination (40 percent) and heroin/morphine (34 percent of the deaths); and overdoses accounted for 66 percent of the deaths with 60 percent of the deaths being accidental or unexpected. This report presents annual data on drug abuse medical examiner cases collected through DAWN for the calendar year 1990. Data were obtained from 135 medical examiners in 27 metropolitan areas located throughout the coterminous United States. Tables and appendixes