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Drug Trends

Fact: There were 3,744 drug poisoning deaths (involving both legal and illegal drugs) registered in 2016 in England and Wales. Of those deaths, 2,593 were from drug misuse which represents 69% of total deaths. In 1993 the proportion was 38%.

Source: Office for National Statistics

What is the trend for deaths from drug misuse?

The trend for deaths from drug misuse out of all drug related deaths has been rising from 38.2%% in 1993 to 69.3% in 2016, as you can see in the following graph:

What about the trend for deaths from any opiate out of all deaths from drug misuse?

There were sharp rises in the trend for deaths from any opiate out of all deaths from drug misuse in 1994, when it rose by 11% (56% in 1993, 67% in 1994) and by 9% in 1996 (69% in 1995, 78% in 1996). Since 1996 the trend has more or less plateaued around 80% with negligible difference in 2016 (78% in 1996, 79% in 2016), as can be seen in the following graph:

What is the trend in the number of deaths from heroin and/or morphine?

“People in the “Trainspotting generation” are most likely to die from drug use, after a sharp rise in deaths among 40- to 49-year-olds last year. The mortality rate among this age group rose from 95.1 deaths per million people in 2015 to 108.0 in 2016, helping fuel another record high in drug use deaths (those involving illegal drugs), which hit 2,593 last year, up from 2,479 in the previous 12 months.”

Source: The Guardian, 2 Aug 2017

This is illustrated in the following graph:

 

Which age group had the highest rate of drug misuse deaths?

“In 2016, as in previous years, people aged 30 to 49 years had the highest rate of drug misuse deaths – significantly higher than any other age group. This follows a trend of sharp increases in this age group since 2012, with mortality rates of 97.5 and 108.0 in 2016 for those aged 30 to 39 years and 40 to 49 years respectively. The sharp increase in deaths registered in 2016 in people aged 40 to 49 years means that this age group has now overtaken people aged 30 to 39 years and is now the age group with the highest rate of drug misuse deaths.”

Source: Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2016 registrations, ONS

“People in the “Trainspotting generation” are most likely to die from drug use, after a sharp rise in deaths among 40- to 49-year-olds last year. The mortality rate among this age group rose from 95.1 deaths per million people in 2015 to 108.0 in 2016, helping fuel another record high in drug use deaths (those involving illegal drugs), which hit 2,593 last year, up from 2,479 in the previous 12 months.”

For the first time, deaths related to drug use are most common among people in their 40s

‘”Trainspotting generation’ most likely to die from drug use” The Guardian, 2 Aug 2017

“The only other age group that experienced an increase in drug use mortality was the 20- to 29-year-old category (from 39.8 deaths per million to 43.7 deaths per million). People aged 20-29 had the highest mortality rate until 2003 when they were overtaken by 30- to 39-year-olds. But the death rate in the latter group fell last year to 97.5, from 98.4 in 2015.”

Source: The Guardian, 2 Aug 2017

Further information

To find out the trends for alcohol use click here, and for cigarette smoking click here.

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