Statistical Bulletin: Deaths Related to Drug Poisoning in England and Wales

This article presents data on the number of drug misuse deaths in England and Wales from 1993 onwards, by cause of death, sex, age and substances involved in the death.

The overall number of deaths has risen by 12 to 3,756 in 2017. This is not a statistically significant increase (similar to last year) and shows the rise is abating.

• The number of drug misuse deaths (i.e. accidental overdose as opposed to suicide via overdose) has fallen by 76 to 2,310 deaths in 2017. Again, this is not statistically significant (similar to last year) and shows that deaths are levelling off.
• Drug misuse deaths among women are continuing to rise – it is not clear why there is a discrepancy between genders, and it must be remembered that the vast majority of people who die are men, but it is still a cause for concern.
• There is a big regional discrepancy. Rates of death from drug misuse were highest in the North East of England, at 82.7 deaths per 1 million of the population, compared with the lowest in London at a rate of 24.3 deaths per million. This reflects that there is a link between drug misuse and deaths, and poverty and social exclusion. Thus solutions go beyond drug policy.
• Opiate-related deaths are decreasing, but there has been a rise in fentanyl deaths (from 58 to 75) which is worrying.
• Cocaine deaths have also increased from 371 to 432. Probably due to an increase in purity and prevalence.
• NPS deaths have halved since 2016 due to the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act. However, the increase in cocaine use and deaths might be due to people moving from NPS to cocaine.
• The highest rate of deaths is among those in their 40s, despite a small drop since last year. There is an aging population of heroin users who started using in the 80s and 90s and who are particularly vulnerable to overdose due to decades of drug misuse, alcohol misuse, poor mental health, smoking, homelessness etc. While deaths of those in their 40s have doubled since 2001, deaths among those in their 20s have halved. There was a slight increase in deaths among those in their 20s in 2016 (although not statistically significant), but this has been reversed in 2017.

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