Over-40s push drug deaths to record level

THE death toll from illegal drugs shot to record levels last year after a wave of fatalities among middle-aged users.

Drug-related deaths are the highest since figures were first logged in 1993, and the soaring toll of older heroin and cocaine users means that for the first time most victims are in their forties.

The Office for National Statistics said the steep increase in deaths – mainly from heroin but also from cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and other drugs including so-called legal highs – was the result of the sudden availability of cheaper and purer drugs last year.

This followed a three-year ‘heroin drought’ when production in war-torn Afghanistan slumped, pushing up prices and cutting the purity of the drug. But anti-drugs campaigners said official policies let young heroin users remain addicts for decades by taking the legally-prescribed substitute methadone, and statebacked rehab courses failed to help users stop taking drugs.

They also blamed police forces that gave up trying to catch and prosecute young people who use illegal drugs.

The figures for 2014 show that more than two-thirds of the recorded drug- poisoning deaths in England and Wales were caused by illegal drugs.

The ONS report said: ‘A large rise in the mortality rate was seen in the 40 to 49 age group. Mortality rates in this group have followed an upward trend and the latest increase means that for the first time the highest rate from drug misuse is in people aged 40 to 49.’

Last year, 2,248 people died after taking illegal drugs. Of these, 952 were killed by heroin – two-thirds more than the 579 in 2012. Cocaine deaths more than doubled from 2011 to 2014, up from 112 to 247.

Deaths caused by amphetamines also doubled, while ecstasy caused 50 deaths, up from just eight in 2010.

Cannabis, regarded by some police chiefs and celebrities as a safe drug, was responsible for 31 deaths, up from seven in 2011. The ONS said: ‘Factors such as the increased availability of heroin, price, street-level purity, the age of those taking the drug and the combination of other narcotics taken can influence the number of deaths.’

It said heroin prices had fallen from almost £75 a gram in 2011 to less than £50, and purer drugs had led to more overdoses.

Kathy Gyngell, from the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, said: ‘For 12 years under Labour we had a policy of keeping heroin users alive on methadone – they did not stop using heroin. This population is ageing and has a high death risk.

‘This Government’s policy has been prevention in word but not in deed – robust rehab programmes are non-existent.

‘The police in several areas are waving the white flag. They don’t arrest users and some even supply needles.’

‘Police are waving the white flag’