Record drug deaths in England and Wales blamed on cuts to treatment programmes
The North East had the highest death rate in England, while London had the lowest.
Professor Alex Stevens from the University of Kent, who serves on the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs, said there had been a 47% increase in deaths from drug poisoning since 2013.He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that funding cuts to treatment services of 27% over three years were the cause of the latest increases.
The Transform Drug Policy Foundation said the rate of drug deaths in the UK was now more than double the European average, and 12 times that of Portugal, which decriminalised drug possession in 2001.
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