Cocaine overtakes heroin as the leading cause of drug deaths in England and Wales for the first time
According to the Office for National Statistics, 5,519 deaths from drug poisoning were registered in England and Wales in 2025. Cocaine was mentioned in 1,233 cases — for the first time more than heroin or morphine (1,210). At the same time, the overall mortality rate fell for the first time since 2012, while the number of deaths involving ketamine almost doubled.
Aziz Karimov