Drug-related deaths in England and Wales have soared to a new record high, with official figures revealing 5,565 fatalities from drug poisoning last year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported this 2.1 per cent rise from 2023, the highest total since records began in 1993. Alarmingly, 195 of these deaths involved nitazenes, a powerful synthetic opioid, nearly quadrupling the 52 fatalities recorded in 2023.
