The UK’s opioid crisis

Narcotics overdose deaths in England and Wales are at their highest level since records began

Jul 17, 2025

The unfortunate theme of today’s Lightbulb is death and illness—both tragic, voluntary and ecological. I promise to tackle a more joyful inevitability next time like, say, taxes.

The “opioid crisis” in the United States has been well documented, with both legally prescribed and illegal opium-based drugs spiking in usage—and deadliness—throughout the 2010s and early 2020s. But less attention has been paid to their prevalence in the UK.

Narcotics overdose deaths in England and Wales are at their highest level since records began in 1993. And some of the most concerning drugs are opioids such as etonitazene, which is 500 times more likely to cause an overdose than heroin.

Martin Powell, formerly of the Transform Drugs organisation, tells journalist Ed Vulliamy: “We have a potential catastrophe on our hands.” Vulliamy investigates the issue in our latest mag. Elsewhere in the issue, Prospect’s Emily Lawford speaks to our ‘a good death’ columnist Mark Mardell on the passage of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill.

Online, our climate columnist Tim Smedley marks the upcoming Earth Overshoot Day—the day “when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services exceeds what Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate in that year”, according to the Global Footprint Network. This year’s date is the 24th July—the earliest ever.

On a more upbeat note, Tom McTague, the former Unherd political editor who was recently appointed editor-in-chief at the New Statesman, joins the latest episode of Media Confidential. He spills the beans on his interview with Keir Starmer, and reveals what he talked about over a drink with Spectator editor Michael Gove.

Finally, Eleanor Beaumont heads to Kensington Gardens to visit Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum’s Serpentine Pavilion, a temporary summer installation. What mark will it leave? As always, email your feedback to ben.clark@prospectmagazine.co.uk. And please keep sending me your favourite beach reads—I’m travelling to Malta tomorrow where I can put your recommendations to good use. Addiju!