Cocaine use on the rise

The drug is becoming increasingly available and affordable

% of 16 to 59 year olds reporting use of drugs ever in their lifetime, by type of substance

USE of cocaine has more than doubled in the past 20 years. The proportion of 16 to 59 year olds admitting to having taken the drug at some point in their lives has increased from five per cent in 2001/02 to 11 per cent in 2019/20.

Experts say that the increase in cocaine use is at least partly down to the drug becoming increasingly available and affordable.

But they warn that the harms of the drug are often being ignored, as even young and healthy people can have a fit, heart attack or stroke after using it.

The new data comes from the Office for National Statistics’ annual Crime Survey for England and Wales.

It shows cocaine was most-used by 20 to 24 year olds, as six per cent of the age group said they had taken it at least once, and was least-used by 55 to 59 year olds at 0.4 per cent.

Men were nearly twice as likely to have taken the drug as women, at 3.4 per cent compared to 1.8 per cent.

Laura Bunt, deputy CEO at drug, alcohol and mental health charity With You, said: “It’s clear that the number of people using cocaine has increased exponentially in recent years, with both crack and powder cocaine becoming increasingly available and affordable.

“Yet many people are unaware of the potential harms of the drug.

“Often people see it as part and parcel of going to the pub on a weekend or an essential element in a night out.

“Yet cocaine can be extremely harmful, especially when mixed with alcohol.

“We need much better education early on in schools and throughout the population on how to use cocaine in the safest way possible.

“Deaths involving cocaine are at their highest number on record and we know that people outside of treatment are most likely to die of a drug related cause.”

Use of any drug at all has remained constant at around 34 or 35 per cent over the last 20 years.

The latest figures show single people were the most likely to have taken drugs, at 17 per cent, compared to 11 per cent of those cohabiting and just three per cent of married people or those in a civil partnership.

An estimated one in 11 adults aged 16 to 59 years had taken a drug within the last year, which is around the same as 2018/19, but is an increase from nine percent in 2009/10.

The figures also show that the proportion of people using any Class A drug increased from 12 to 16 per cent between 2001/02 and 2019/20.

Cannabis use has also increased from 29 per cent to 31 per cent in that time, and was the most-used Class B drug in the last year.