Collective Voice calls for action following latest drug-related death figures

The Office for National Statistics today released its latest data on deaths from drug poisoning, covering 2025. The figures present a concerning picture across England and Wales:

• 5,519 deaths were registered as relating to drug poisoning, including 3,615 classified as relating to ‘drug misuse’.
• Cocaine was the most frequently mentioned specific substance in drug-poisoning deaths, overtaking heroin or morphine.
• Opiates and opioids remained the most frequently mentioned substance group.

Dr Will Haydock, Chief Executive of Collective Voice, issued the statement below. For further comment or an interview, contact Will directly at [email protected] or 07552 613081.

Treatment saves lives

Every one of these deaths is a tragedy. As a society, we can and must do more to prevent them. This means ensuring people can access effective, evidence-based support to make changes and turn their lives around.

We know that specialist substance use treatment prevents deaths from drug-related causes,[i] and helps people improve their lives.  This provides benefits not just directly to an individual using drugs, but also their friends, family and the wider community.[ii]  Fundamentally, treatment saves lives.

Charities can be a driving force in delivering support

Charities already employ 86% of the workforce in this sector[iii] and have shown they can deliver real impact in this field – so long as Government plays its part and provides the necessary leadership and investment.

After multiple years of austerity in England, Dame Carol Black’s independent review set out a five-year programme of investment and delivery that was required to ensure people could access the support they need and deserve.[iv]

The 2021 drugs strategy that followed this review provided investment and set specific ambitions for drug and alcohol treatment.  This was transformational for our field, which is now supporting the highest number of adults in treatment since reporting began. [v]

We have also worked hard to improve to improve continuity of care between prison and community, which is crucial for reducing drug-related deaths because people leaving prison are at a higher risk of overdose.^[vi]

The Government must re-state its commitment to reducing harm from drugs

Unfortunately, these gains are now at risk due to Government inaction.  For over two years the Government has been largely silent on addiction, and has paused the planned investment programme, freezing funding at year three levels rather than continuing to follow the path laid out by the Independent Review, which has amounted to a real terms cut at a time when we are trying to support more people in treatment than ever before.[vii]

The time has now come to press play once again on this invaluable work that saves lives and helps communities and the economy thrive, reducing pressure on the NHS, the criminal justice system and wider public services, including social care.

If the current Prime Minister is to achieve his ambitions on a whole range of policy issues – including violence against women and girls, the crisis in the criminal justice system, homelessness, and young people’s employment and mental health – then we must talk about drugs, and specifically treatment and recovery services.

We urgently need a new drugs strategy with clear priorities, including reducing drug-related deaths.  If we get our response to alcohol and other drugs right, we can save and improve hundreds of thousands of lives.

In 2025, there were 1,538 fatalities on the roads across Britain,[viii] and the Government has published a road safety strategy with the ambition to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in Great Britain by 65% over the next ten years.[ix]  We need the same focus and urgency for drug-related deaths.

Crucially, it isn’t just charities calling for action; the Home Affairs Select Committee has recently pointedly asked the Government whether it is still working to Boris Johnson’s 2021 drugs strategy, given the lack of any stated policy direction in this field.[x]

We must act now

The latest figures underline the urgency of addressing this issue.  The National Crime Agency stated in 2024 that ‘there has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs’,[xi] and today’s statistics show this continues to be the case.  Synthetic opioids have become increasingly common in the UK, and were implicated in at least 627 deaths between June 2023 and June 2026.[xii]

The fact that cocaine is now the single most mentioned substance in the latest ONS figures, overtaking heroin, emphasises how harms and challenges continue to develop. The Government’s approach must similarly continue to develop in response – which means a new strategy.

The Government is taking action on some of these elements – such as widening the availability of Naloxone – but the pace of their work doesn’t match the urgency of the challenge and therefore there is a need for more clarity, momentum and leadership on this issue.

Specific actions that Government should take now

We have previously outlined specific actions that the Government could take now to enable charities to offer more effective support to people at risk of drug poisoning.[xiii]  These include:

• widen availability of Naloxone, the antidote to overdoses from opioids like heroin;
• simplify the licensing process for drug checking, so people know what they are taking and can plan accordingly – this should be available as a matter of course in every town and city;
• licence and support enhanced harm reduction centres so people have advice and support around them and if they overdose they can be treated, and their life can be saved.

Alongside these specific actions, we must ensure everyone has access to the right support for them, at the right time.  This includes access to residential treatment and improving access to support while people are in prison.

Help is available in your local community

Our member charities provide support services across the country, so help is available in every local community free at the point of use.  If you need support yourself, or you’re worried about someone else, then please do get in touch with your local service.  You are not alone.  Thousands of people like you are already accessing support across the country.  Just search at: https://www.talktofrank.com/get-help/find-support-near-you

Find out more at https://www.collectivevoice.org.uk/ and read our recent publication From Hope to Delivery: Five essential next steps for Government action on alcohol and other drugs.

[i] Sordo et al (2017) “Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies”, British Medical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j1550

[ii] See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-and-drug-prevention-treatment-and-recovery-why-invest/alcohol-and-drug-prevention-treatment-and-recovery-why-invest

[iii] See https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/mental-health/drug-alcohol-treatment-recovery-workforce-programme/drug-alcohol-treatment-recovery-services-workforce-census

[iv] Independent Review of Drugs: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/independent-review-of-drugs-by-professor-dame-carol-black

[v] See: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/substance-misuse-treatment-for-adults-statistics-2024-to-2025/adult-substance-misuse-treatment-statistics-2024-to-2025-report

[vi] See https://www.ndtms.net/Monthly/MonthlyProvisionalStatistics

[vii] The freeze in funding occurred at a point where charities faced increases in National Insurance and changes in VAT, at a time of historically high inflation that led to significant increases in running costs.  Frozen funding has therefore amounted to a significant real terms cut in resources.

[viii] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-final-results-2025/rrcgb-2025-introduction-and-main-findings

[ix] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-safety-strategy

[x] committees.parliament.uk/publications/55375/standard/pdf/

[xi] https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/there-has-never-been-a-more-dangerous-time-to-take-drugs-says-national-crime-agency-as-annual-threat-assessment-is-published?highlight=WyJjaGlsZCIsInRyYWZmaWNraW5nIl0=

[xii] Latest figures on deaths related to synthetic opioids are available from the Drugs Early Warning System dashboard: https://www.ndtms.net/DrugsEarlyWarningSystem/DrugsEarlyWarningSystemPublic

[xiii] https://www.collectivevoice.org.uk/blog/the-governments-serious-approach-to-synthetic-opioids-is-welcome-but-it-can-do-more-to-provide-national-leadership/