Over 80,000 people using illegal drugs in Kent

The report will be discussed at a Kent Community Safety Partnership meeting on Thursday

More than 80,000 people in Kent are thought to be taking illegal drugs, new official figures have revealed.

A report to go before a meeting of the Kent Community Safety Partnership (KCSP) on Thursday says that 32,000 of those are users of class A substances, such as heroin.

The report, to be discussed at County Hall in Maidstone, says the rate of “unmet need” posed by opiate and crack cocaine users is 63%, compared to the national average of 54%.

This means the number of people getting the help they need to tackle their addiction is below the national average.

The partnership, chaired by councillor Clair Bell, has been informed that highly potent synthetic drugs, known as nitazenes, are on the rise, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The report estimates that 5,647 people in Kent are opiate and/or crack users, which is below the national average.

The growing concern about nitazenes was highlighted late last year after two deaths were reported.

A ban on 15 synthetic opiates was put into force earlier this year.

Antony Hook, a criminal barrister and leader of the Liberal Democrat group at Kent County Council, said police must have more resources to target supply gangs and test seized batches for heroin adulterated with synthetic drugs.

The KCSP report tells members: “Another area of concern is the increasing trend for drug-related deaths, although the rate of Kent’s drug deaths is still slightly below the national average.

"The threat from new synthetic opioid substances that are used to adulterate the supply of drugs also poses a national and local concern that puts drug users at higher risk of death."