An estimated 750,000 people in the UK are addicted to alcohol while 400,000 are addicted to illegal drugs, according to a new report from the Forward Trust and Crest Advisory. Meanwhile, around 700,000 people are currently in recovery, the document states.
The report is a systematic review of mostly publicly available evidence combined with insights from delivering Forward Trust’s services. While there is ‘no precise data’ on the true scale of drug and alcohol problems in the UK, the ‘picture created’ from the existing data shows that the problem is widespread and worsening, it says.
Chronic ketamine use is a rapidly growing area of harm, the document highlights, with treatment presentations 12 times higher than a decade ago. Nitazenes, meanwhile, are helping to drive the worsening drug death figures, which hit their highest ever level in 2024.
The report calls for reliable funding for treatment and recovery services to be fully maintained across the country, along with better provision of services for people struggling with alcohol and non-opiate drugs – both of which are ‘significantly under-resourced despite growing demand’. Funding should be targeted on those programmes and interventions demonstrated to have the greatest impact, it says, while more also needs to be done to tackle the stigma that deters people from seeking help in the first place.
The government should also strengthen strategies to reduce the impact of addiction on crime and anti-social behaviour, it adds: ‘The mechanisms for identifying, motivating and treating addicted people in the criminal justice system have been hollowed out over the past 15 years, but can be quickly rebuilt with the right political and institutional commitment.’
‘With change happening at the heart of government, we need a rethink and reboot when it comes to the UK’s approach to addiction,’ said Forward Trust CEO Mike Trace. ‘As our report highlights, addiction is a significant contributor to family and community disruption, as well as a driver of crime and health inequalities. Labour has yet to produce a comprehensive plan to tackle drug or alcohol addiction, and I call on the new prime minister to make this a priority. Addressing these problems is going to require the courage to think and act differently. We need to be proactive in removing the conditions that give rise to addiction. We need to be making it much easier for people to talk about addiction problems. And we need all our public health services to become addiction-recovery champions, pooling their knowledge and skills to treat the whole person in their journey towards recovery.’
Meanwhile, new risk assessments to identify people in financial difficulties are to be introduced in stages by the Gambling Commission. The first stage will see assessments carried out by the largest operators where there is high spend of ‘multiple thousands’ of pounds over a 24-hour period – ‘for most, this means £5,000 net deposit in a rolling 24-hour period’. The assessments will be based on credit agency information, with lower thresholds applying to under-25s.
‘There is evidence that some high-spending gambling customers are experiencing current financial difficulties but are not being identified or supported by gambling businesses,’ the commission states ‘Without being identified, they may continue to receive marketing and promotional offers encouraging further gambling despite being financially vulnerable.’
Addiction in the UK available here