Cocaine deaths rise by 30% as drug fatalities soar to record levels

More than 1,118 deatsh have been linked to cocaine – a near ten-fold increase compared 2011 - ((Alamy/PA))

Drug related deaths have soared to a record high with deaths involving cocaine up by almost a third, worrying new figures have revealed.

Some 5,448 deaths were linked to drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2023, the highest figure since records began in 1993 and an 11 per cent rise on the previous year.