Drug overdose deaths soar to 30-year high with four-fold increase in lives lost to super-strength nitazenes
The number of deaths from drug overdoses has risen to a 32-year high; This includes a fourfold increase in lives lost after taking synthetic drugs 100 times more powerful than heroin.
Official figures show 5,565 people will die from drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2024; This is the highest figure since records began in 1993.
This includes 195 people who died after taking deadly new synthetic opioids called nitazen, which are feared to flood the British drugs market. This is up from just 52 substance-related deaths in 2023.
Drug experts described the figures as a “national scandal” and called for urgent government action to reduce deaths.
Mike Trace, chief executive of the Forward Trust and the government’s former drugs czar, said: Independent: “These drug-related death figures should be a national scandal every year.”
He said the number of lives lost was almost four times those killed in road traffic crashes, but successive governments had shown “inertia” on harm reduction reform.
He said the Scottish government was on a mission to reduce these death rates but Westminster had remained relatively silent on the issue.
“The government needs to take these figures much more seriously and take action to reduce deaths,” he said, adding that leaders were often “shaky” about adopting policies that would help ensure active drug users can get advice and support to prevent overdose.
While historically drug-related deaths have been dominated by heroin overdoses, a broader drug cocktail is now involved.
There are fears that the number of deaths recorded in connection with new synthetic substances such as nitzenes may be the tip of the iceberg due to investigation delays and testing just catching up.
“The nature of these new synthetic substances means there are many more ways to get them into the country and even produce them in the country,” he said.
“The biggest risk is that they have a much higher potency. This potency is the main factor in the mortality rate.”
Last year, grieving mother Claire Rocha said: Independent The drugs became a “ticking time bomb” after his son Dylan unknowingly ingested a substance containing isotonitazene, a type of nitazene that is 500 times more potent than morphine.
The talented musician died in July 2021, aged just 21, in what is thought to be one of the first nitazen-related deaths in Britain.
The Office for National Statistics, which published the latest figures, warned that in around a fifth of cases some data was missing because no information was given about the specific drug or drugs in the death registration form.
He added that due to delays, about half of the deaths recorded in 2024 will occur in previous years.
Those aged 40 to 49 were most at risk, with an average age of 45.5 years for men and 48.5 years for women.
Heroin and other opiates, or opioids, were the leading cause of death, being associated with 2,621 deaths in 2024, up 2.7 percent from the previous year.
Deaths related to cocaine, Britain’s second most used drug, also increased by 14.4 percent compared to the previous year, with 1,279 deaths recorded in 2024.
Sir Richard Branson, a member of the Global Drug Policy Commission, said the figures showed “a national crisis made worse by dangerous synthetic opioids such as nitzenes”.
“Not every drug-related death is preventable, but the vast majority are,” the Virgin founder said. “Yet the UK government continues to ignore the evidence.”
He called for a “radical shift” to focus on harm reduction measures such as drug control services and medically supervised drug consumption rooms. There is only one such facility in the UK, The Thistle in Glasgow.
Charity Turning Point, which helps people with substance abuse problems, has called for increased availability of medication for opioid overdose.
Operations chief Clare Taylor said: “Synthetic opioids continue to flood the market.
“Laboratory-produced opioids pose a significant risk to life due to their effects, and this is reflected in the fact that opioid-related deaths have quadrupled compared to the previous year.
“We want to see continued efforts to increase the availability of naloxone, a life-saving medication that can reverse the effects of opioid overdose.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “This government is committed to reducing the number of drug-related deaths through treatment, advice and support, focusing on the poorest areas that suffer most.
“This week we launched a new campaign to warn young people about the dangers of ketamine, counterfeit drugs and contaminated e-cigarettes.
“Through mission-led government, we will continue to work with our partners in health, policing and wider public services to reduce drug use, reduce harm and build a fairer Britain for everyone.”
