Drug overdose deaths hit a record high with middle-aged Gen X driving disturbing trend – while Gen Z fatalities fall

The number of drug deaths in England and Wales has reached a record high, driven by a worrying rise in ‘silver sniffers’.

A record 5,448 drug poisoning deaths were recorded in 2023 – a rate of 93 deaths per million people.

This is the eleventh consecutive increase, compared to the 4,907 recorded in 2022, and the highest since records began in 1993.

Figures show that while deaths among middle-aged Brits rose, deaths among Gen Z fell for the third year in a row.

As a drug, cocaine killed a record number of people last year, with the annual number of deaths from the illicit substance increasing tenfold in just a decade.

It comes amid a huge explosion in the number of Brits using the party drug.

Experts called the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures ‘alarming’ and ‘shocking’ and also warned that an increase in the strength of cocaine per gram, combined with a fall in price, is behind the rise in deaths could sit.

The ONS figures include drug abuse and dependence, fatal accidents, suicides and complications involving illicit drugs as well as prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

As with previous reports, around half of the deaths recorded in 2023 will actually have occurred in previous years due to delays in recording deaths.

Men were responsible for two-thirds of all recorded drug poisonings: 3,645 compared to 1,803 deaths among women.

Of the deaths recorded last year, 4,329 were the result of accidental poisoning, while there were 977 cases of intentional self-poisoning.

The figures were highest among people in Generation X, who were born between 1965 and 1980 and are now between 40 and 50 years old.

This so-called ‘Trainspotting generation’, named after the novel-turned-film starring Ewan McGregor that highlighted drug use in Edinburgh among teenagers and young adults in the 1980s and 1990s, had the highest death rate of any in 2023 groups in England and Wales. .

The average age of death for drug abuse deaths in 2023 was 44.5 years among men and 47.5 years among women.

While the average age among women has remained constant since 1993, it has risen steadily for men since the late 1990s.

Ian Hamilton, associate professor of addiction at the University of York, told MailOnline that over-40s often have ‘a range of physical and mental comorbidities’ that make them ‘particularly vulnerable to fatal overdoses’.

He added: ‘These include liver disease, respiratory and heart problems.

‘They are also twice as likely to smoke compared to the general population and are therefore at greater risk of all associated health problems associated with tobacco smoking.’

Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012 and therefore between the ages of 12 and 27, was responsible for only one in ten drug poisoning deaths.

The 516 deaths recorded under the age of 30 are down from 532 in 2022 and almost half the number in the late 1990s.

‘We have seen that this cohort is much less likely to use drugs or alcohol, as far as we know they are avoiding these substances because they don’t want to be seen drunk by friends or potential employers,’ Professor Hamilton said.

“They have also witnessed the damage these substances have caused to people older than them.”

In terms of substance, opiates continued to account for the majority of drug poisoning deaths, accounting for almost half (46.8 percent).

This was 13 percent higher than the year before, the ONS said.

Heroin and morphine were also the most common opiates on death certificates, with 1,453 deaths involving either drug in 2023.

Mixing opioids with other drugs, which can increase the risk of overdose, could partly explain the increase, statisticians said.

Cocaine came in second and was responsible for a fifth of all drug poisoning deaths, with 1,118.

It marks a 30 percent spike in cocaine deaths in the previous year and is ten times higher than in 2011, when just 112 deaths from the substance were recorded.

A quarter of all cocaine-related deaths occurred among people over 50, the highest percentage ever recorded. Three victims were over 70 years old.

Britain is supposed to do that According to the UK’s National Crime Agency, they snort around 117 tonnes of cocaine per year.

Last year the The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has also been unveiled Britain has the second highest rate of cocaine use in the world, with one in forty adults (2.7 percent of the population) using the drug, more than any other country in Europe.

In 2023, the British also said the drug had become ‘more accessible than ever’, not just via text message or in the pub, but also on social media.

They claimed they could now pick up a bag in less than five minutes.

say that they are offered these offers not only via the traditional text message or in the pub, but also on various social media channels.

Professor Hamilton told MailOnline that an increase in the drug’s overall strength, combined with lower prices, is likely behind the ‘shocking’ rise in cocaine deaths.

He said: ‘The 30 per cent increase in cocaine deaths is shocking and sad.

‘We have seen the popularity of cocaine rise in recent years, while at the same time its potency has increased and prices have fallen or at least not risen.

‘This combination of greater potency and value for money will have directly contributed to the increase in fatal overdoses.

‘Although we don’t have the data, it is possible that many people have turned to injecting cocaine, which greatly increases the risk of death.’

‘Specialist drug treatment centers need a major overhaul to tackle the record number of drug-related deaths.

‘They need specialist staff who can tackle not only the drug problems, but also all the mental and physical problems that come with them.’

Meanwhile, Clare Taylor, chief operating officer at drug services provider Turning Point, said: ‘The increased deaths caused by cocaine use are alarming and it is vital that services provide advice and support to individuals.

“These statistics once again highlight the urgent need to seriously tackle the drug-related deaths crisis.

“All drug-related deaths are preventable, and our thoughts are with everyone who has lost someone.”

There was also a geographical gap in drug deaths in England and Wales, with people in the North East (174.3 deaths per million) three times as likely to die from drug poisoning than people in London (58.1 deaths per million). million).

London also had the lowest number of deaths from drug abuse (41 per million).

Of the recorded deaths, the North West recorded the highest figure at 905 and Wales the lowest at 318.

Lee Fernandes, drug treatment expert at the UK Addiction Treatment Group, said: ‘An 11 per cent national annual increase in the number of vulnerable people losing their lives to drugs is a travesty.

‘Enough is enough now, as a country we must come together, stand up and take real action to flatten this ever-rising curve.

‘We urge the government and health authorities to take their heads out of the sand and recognize that we are now on a precipice, and especially to recognize the clear North-South divide and take action if it goes for drug deaths.

‘People’s lives should not depend on a postcode lottery.’