Cocaine overtakes heroin as leading cause of drug deaths in England and Wales

Cocaine deaths rise sharply

The figures show cocaine overtaking heroin as the leading cause of drug deaths in England and Wales. While deaths overall fell a little in 2025, they stayed at historically high levels, around twice the rate from 10 years earlier.

Cocaine-specific deaths were four times the level recorded a decade ago and eight times the 2010 figure. Wastewater analysis indicates rising cocaine consumption, and the drug is increasingly seen in pubs, at festivals and in workplaces.

Age and regional differences

People aged over 40 accounted for 64% of registered cocaine deaths. The same older-age pattern is also evident among people seeking help from drug treatment services. The north-east of England recorded 135.2 drug deaths per million people in 2025, the highest rate among the areas cited. London had the lowest, at 58.3 per million; deaths were five times more common in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived.

Charities call for action

Niamh Eastwood of Release attributed cocaine deaths to policy failures in the UK and internationally. The organisation said a punitive approach to drug use restricts harm-reduction support, leaving people who use cocaine without practical help.

Mike Trace of Forward Trust described the overall drug-death rate as a national scandal requiring urgent attention. Will Haydock of Collective Voice said earlier progress was at risk because of government inaction.

Treatment funding concerns

Haydock said the government had been largely silent on addiction for more than two years and had paused a planned investment programme. Funding, he said, was held at year-three levels rather than following the independent review of drugs, amounting to a real-terms cut while treatment services were supporting more people.

He argued that treatment and recovery services matter to the government’s aims on violence against women and girls, the criminal justice system, homelessness, and young people’s employment and mental health. The article also reports a 10% rise in crime associated with cocaine since 2019.