Drug-related deaths reached a record high in England and Wales last year, according to new figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that there were 3,674 deaths from drug poisoning registered in 2015, the highest since comparable records began in 1993.
Their study also found that deaths involving heroin and cocaine were at their highest level ever recorded.
Drug use
Deaths involving cocaine have increased for the past four consecutive years.
Last year, there were 320 deaths involving cocaine, including crack cocaine, an increase from 247 in 2014.
Deaths involving either heroin, morphine or both have doubled in the last 3 years to 1,201 in 2015, and are also now the highest on record.
Particularly vulnerable
Vanessa Fearn, from the Office for National Statistics, highlighted the larger proportions of older users as one of the reasons for the spike in the figures.
She said: “Deaths involving heroin and morphine have more than doubled since 2012, partly driven by a rise in heroin purity and availability over the last three years.”
She added that older drug addicts “often have other conditions, such as lung disease and hepatitis, that make them particularly vulnerable.”
Legal high ban
Deaths involving psychoactive substances – formerly known as ‘legal highs’ – have also risen over the last five years, with 114 deaths recorded last year.
Since the Psychoactive Substances Act banned legal highs earlier this year, more than 300 shops have stopped selling the drugs.
A further 24 shops have been completely shut down by authorities with close to 200 arrests made.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Any death related to misuse of drugs is a tragedy. While overall drug use continues to decline, our approach is to get people off drugs for good, with decisions on treatment based on an individual’s clinical need”.