Heroin deaths nearly double in Hertfordshire as county sees surge in synthetic drug use

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Heroin deaths in Hertfordshire almost doubled in a single year, while fewer than half of the county’s 5,700 regular drug users and nearly 12,000 alcoholics are getting the help they need, a report found.

Hertfordshire’s County Council’s strategy for addressing drug and alcohol problems among its residents was discussed at a meeting last week. Members of the council’s public health and community safety committee were presented with a report of the upcoming Drug and Alcohol Strategy on Thursday, January 30.

The existing strategy, set up in 2019, was due to expire at the end of 2024, and members of the council’s strategic partnership team, with sits in its public health department, have been tasked with drawing a new one.

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The draft Drug and Alcohol Strategy states: “The estimated total cost to society of alcohol use in Hertfordshire, including treatment and support, crime, and costs to the economy is estimated to be around £524.8 million.

Hertfordshire County CouncilHertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council

“While data is not readily available for the cost of illegal drug use in Hertfordshire, HM Government’s own figures approximate the cost to society for England and Wales as approaching £20 billion.

“We have 5,712 opiate and/or crack cocaine users and 11,826 problem alcohol prevalence. We have 60.6 per cent unmet need for opiate and/or crack users and 76.7 per cent for dependent alcohol users.

“The majority of individuals accessing substance use treatment had a co-occurring mental health need e.g. 81 per cent and 78 per cent for non-opiate and alcohol use respectively.

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“In 2023, there were 71 deaths registered as related to drug overdoses or poisoning in the county. Heroin-related deaths have also increased compared to previous years e.g. from 10 to 19 between 2022 and 2023.

“Of the 2,670 mental health investigations recorded by police in Hertfordshire between April 2021 and March 2024, 4.0% [108 cases] had a marker for alcohol, and 1.4 per cent [38 cases] had a marker for drugs. This suggests likely under-recording.

“As of July 2024, 679 individuals on the Hertfordshire probation caseload had a mental health, drug and alcohol need identified, with 30 of these offenders recorded as having both a psychiatric and drug-related psychotic disorder.

“The number of children and young people entering structured substance use treatment in Hertfordshire has continued to increase year on year, with the current number for the latest year standing at 149 young people engaging with services for any substance type.”

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The council’s draft Drug and Alcohol Strategy outlines three key aims, which are – tackling drug supply using robust enforcement and proactive policing; improving access for service users and carers into treatment, recovery and support; and thirdly, prevention work focused on stopping young people becoming involved in substance use.

Councillor Morris Bright, chairman of the public health and community safety committee, said the “more traditional methods of drug supply have been changing in recent years” and that some supply chains had broken down post-Covid.

He said: “We’re now seeing a huge increase in the number of synthesised drugs that have been made in China and Russia and so on. They’re not being supplied on a street corner necessarily but they’re actually being ordered by post and various services just deliver them.

“The reason that is particularly worrying is that it may be harder to try and track them down but also, we know the nature of these synthesised drugs is that they’re many more times powerful than the traditional Class A drugs and that’s what’s causing some of the uptick in deaths.

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“And it’s not necessarily deaths among people who you would traditionally assume or take a view must be taking drugs – on a street corner or on stairs behind a shopping centre somewhere. It’s just people who might be using them for recreational purposes suddenly finding they’re taking a drug that is 100 times higher than what they think it is, and that’s it.

“I do think it’s very important that people understand that there is a whole new challenge out there in relation to drugs.”

Sarah Perman, director of public health, said: “You’re absolutely right to highlight the risks, particularly around synthetic opioids, and it is a priority of this current government to make sure that each local area has a specific plan around them”

Ms Perman added that she co-chaired the local drugs and alcohol strategic board in Hertfordshire, along Deputy Chief Constable Catherine Akehurst. She said: “That’s particularly important to make sure around this agenda as well as other topics that we’ve got the correct balance between treatment and provision and actions the police can take to prevent people for accessing these drugs in the first place.”

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