Drug crisis as middle class users think this narcotic is ‘harmless’ | Politics | News
Britain is facing a drugs crisis (Image: Getty)
A record number of cocaine seizures shows how middle class users treat it as “harmless and socially acceptable”, a police chief blasted. Officers confiscated powder cocaine on 23,706 occasions last year, the highest annual number since 1973. But more than 60% of the seizures were under a gram, which demonstrates the “consistent and widespread demand” for drugs. Critics warned Britain’s drug shame has been fuelled by soft approaches to crime despite the public “crying out” for “zero tolerance” policing.
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Court, NPCC deputy lead for drugs, said: “Powder cocaine is often seen as a harmless and socially acceptable recreational drug. The vast quantities of lower-weight seizures in the past year demonstrates this consistent and wide-spread demand.”
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The top police officer continued: “But cocaine production and supply is fuelled by violence and exploitation, and those consuming it are helping to sustain a multi-million-pound illicit market which destroys lives.
“Policing works tirelessly, alongside other law enforcement agencies, to target criminal operations and seize harmful substances before they can reach our communities – this is evidenced by the record number of seizures of cocaine and drugs during the 2024-25 period.
“We will be relentless in pursuing the profit-driven ruthless criminals involved in drug production and supply and bringing them to justice in order to protect our communities from harm.”
Home Office figures show police and Border Force seized 18.46 tonnes of cocaine in the year to March. This was 23% after a number of record hauls in the previous 12 months.
But the number of individual seizures increased by 14% to a total of 24,492. Confiscations by police accounted for 23,706 of these.
And alarming analysis “63% of powder cocaine seizures were under one gram (g), 34% were between 1g and 500g, and the remaining 3% weighed 500g and over.”
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It comes after the Daily Express revealed evil drug cartels are tightening their grip on Britain by exploiting Labour’s “soft” approach to crime.
Police and Border Force seized a staggering 148 tonnes of narcotics worth almost £3billion last year.
Critics warned communities are “awash with illegal drugs” because drug kingpins are exploiting porous borders, weak sentencing laws and falling police numbers.
A record 137 tonnes of the class-B drug were seized in the year to March 2025, up from 85 tonnes in the previous year.
Numerous sources dismissed any suggestion this was a result of law enforcement agencies winning the war on drugs, instead pointing to a surge in supply of numerous substances.
David Spencer, Head of Crime and Justice, Policy Exchange, said: “The prevalence of illegal drugs is fuelling disorder and criminality on our streets.
“This is the inheritance of successive, so-called ‘progressive’, soft on crime and criminals governments over recent decades. The public is crying out for some old-fashioned zero tolerance policing and prison sentences for these criminals.”
