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New record high drug deaths as nitazene fatalities almost quadruple
Western Mail
|October 18, 2025
DRUG-RELATED deaths have hit a new record high, with the number involving a powerful synthetic opioid almost quadrupling, according to official figures
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There were 5,565 deaths related to drug poisoning registered in Wales and England last year, the Office for National Statistics said. This was a 2.1% increase on the number registered in 2023 and is the highest number since records began in 1993.
Sir Richard Branson, who is a member of the Global Commission on Drugs, said the figures were "shocking" and that a "national crisis" was being worsened by dangerous synthetic opioids such as nitazenes.
The Virgin entrepreneur called for a "radical shift" in UK Government policy on drugs, indicating there should be more than just one safer drugs consumption room in the UK.
A total of 195 deaths registered last year involved nitazenes, a figure almost four times that of the 52 deaths registered in 2023.
This story is from the October 18, 2025 edition of Western Mail.
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