Cocaine is overtaking heroin as the substance most often involved in drug-related deaths in England and Wales, according to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures. The reports say cocaine was linked to 1,233 fatalities in 2025, making it the biggest Class A killer in the period covered by records mentioned in the coverage.
Outlets frame the change differently. Sky News and The Guardian focus on the shift itself and its implications for public health policy, while The Guardian highlights a call from charities for urgent government action. The Daily Mail and Mail Online emphasise a “death map” framing, pointing readers to regional variation alongside the headline trend. Across coverage, all cite the ONS as the source for the underlying numbers.
Overall, the outlets agree on the key factual development: cocaine-related deaths have surpassed heroin in England and Wales, with 1,233 deaths attributed to cocaine in 2025.
