Cocaine deaths surge helps push drug poisonings to record high

DRUG poisoning deaths have surged to a new record level, driven in part by a jump in fatalities involving cocaine.

Official statistics show 3,744 deaths involving legal and illegal drugs were registered in England and Wales last year – the highest number since comparable records started in 1993.

Of those, 2,593 (69%) were classed as drug misuse deaths.

The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show there were 371 deaths involving cocaine – a rise of 16% on the figure recorded in 2015.

Statisticians identified a rise in the purity of cocaine as one possible explanation for the increase, which has been logged despite estimates of usage remaining broadly steady.

The ONS report cited a warning from the National Crime Agency that there was a “significant increase” in both crack and powder cocaine purity in 2016, including at user-level.

This “may partly explain the increase in deaths relating to cocaine”, the paper added.

A study published earlier this year flagged up “unprecedented” purity levels for street cocaine.

Cocaine-related mortality rates have been increasing year on year, reaching a record high of 6.4 deaths per one million population, the ONS statistics show. The majority of fatalities occur in men aged 30 to 49.

In contrast to cocaine, deaths linked to heroin and/or morphine remained stable last year – with 1,209 compared with 1,201 registered in 2015.

People aged 40 to 49 had the highest rate of drug misuse deaths in 2016, overtaking the 30-39 age group.