Record Cocaine Deaths Driven by Older Users, Data Shows

Deaths linked to cocaine in England and Wales have reached record levels, driven mainly by older people. More than half of the cocaine deaths registered last year involved someone over 40.

In June, Home Office scientists published an experimental estimate based on sewage samples. It suggested cocaine use rose by 26% between 2021 and 2025. People in England consumed an estimated 123,000kg of cocaine in 2024-25, roughly 2.5bn lines, with an estimated street value of £9.8bn.

Crime survey data tells a different story. The number of people reporting cocaine use in the past year has stayed flat or fallen slightly since the pandemic. One explanation is that a similar or smaller number of people are using the drug more often. Another is that the survey excludes people who are homeless or living in institutions, and some respondents may be reluctant to admit illegal drug use.

Dr Josh Torrance, a specialist in drug markets, said wastewater analysis can reveal use that surveys miss. Sewage estimates carry substantial margins of error, though.

Prices and purity

The National Crime Agency says wholesale prices fell below pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and reached "historically low levels" in 2025. It has seen signs that they are rising again in 2026.

Torrance tracks advertised prices for an ounce of cocaine. The price fell from about £1,300 in March 2022 to about £1,000 by August 2023. When he resumed collecting data in September 2025 it was about £700. It stayed there until June, when it rose to roughly £800, then reached £1,000 in July and eased to about £950 by September. "I've never seen such a quick increase in the price of cocaine," he said. He suspects a supply disruption but says the cause is hard to pin down.

Cocaine sold as "pure" is often about 70-80% pure, Torrance said, and a more diluted tier may be about 60%. The agency says wholesale purity has stayed high. "A reduced price drives up use. With increased use and increased purity, you end up with more deaths," he said.

Who is using it

Younger people are still the most likely to use the drug, but use is falling among them and rising in older age groups. In England, 33,612 people started treatment for cocaine problems in 2024-25, up 57% from 2019-20. People in their 30s were the largest age group seeking help. Ten years earlier it was those in their 20s.

Recorded crime mentioning cocaine is up 10% since 2019, according to figures gathered from 39 police forces. Police recorded almost 30,000 such crimes in 2025. Most were drug offences, 18% were violent crimes and about 4% were sexual offences, including 344 rapes. A police record that mentions cocaine does not by itself show that the drug was used.

Home Office figures suggest that nearly six in ten police drug tests on people arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse were positive for cocaine between July 2025 and June 2026.

Torrance said acute overdose deaths often involve cardiac problems, and the health effects of long-term use add to the risks. An independent report last year found that the UK lacked a coordinated drug prevention strategy with dedicated funding. "One reason cocaine deaths have risen so dramatically over the last five to 10 years is that we didn't invest in upstream prevention," he said.

Source: The Guardian