Cocaine was involved in 65 deaths in Wales in 2023, according to the latest statistics from Public Health Wales, ‘accounting for a quarter of all drug misuse fatalities’.
This means that cocaine is now the third most common substance in the country’s drug-related death figures, after opioids (at 66 per cent) and benzodiazepines. There were almost 377 drug poisoning deaths recorded in Wales in 2023 – up from less than 320 the previous year – of which more than 250 classified as drug misuse deaths.
‘These figures are consistent with information from local services that reflect increases in both powder cocaine and crack cocaine use across Wales,’ said head of the Public Health Wales substance misuse programme Rick Lines. ‘These evolving trends point to a need to expand our services to meet the needs of stimulant users generally, and particularly people who smoke crack cocaine who are often particularly vulnerable.’
The data again showed the links between ‘social and economic deprivation and overdose risk’, he added, with drug-related deaths ‘eight times more likely in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived. This shows that drug services alone are not the answer to reducing deaths, and that addressing wider determinants must also be a focus of our response.’
Meanwhile, chief officer at Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership, Pat Togher, has told the BBC that cocaine is the most used drug at the city’s recently opened consumption room, the Thistle. Of the 239 times the facility had so far been used, 87 per cent were for cocaine, he said.
Harm reduction database Wales: drug related mortality available here