Opiates were among the main causes behind a spike in drug-related deaths in England and Wales, which reached a record high in 2021, latest official figures show.
A total of 4,859 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2021 in England and Wales, equivalent to a rate of 84.4 deaths per million people. This is 6.2 percent higher than the rate recorded in 2020, according to the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS).
