Brighton is 'drugs death capital'

There were 47 drug related deaths in Brighton and Hove in 2004

Brighton and Hove has been named by researchers as the drugs death capital of Britain.

A report, by the International Centre for Drug Policy at the University of London, said 51 people in the city died from drug-related deaths in 2005.

Dr Adenekan Oyefeso said many people in Brighton and Hove left drug treatment programmes prematurely which could explain the figures.

Those who were not coming forward for care must also be reached, he added.

'Hidden population'

Brighton and Hove has topped the centre's annual report for drug related deaths three years in a row.

Dr Oyefeso, from the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths at St George's University of London, said: "Brighton and Hove has a highly mobile population - people move there from other parts of the country."

He said people returned to "chaotic drug lifestyles" if they failed to complete treatment programmes.

"It is about reaching those who are not coming forward for treatment - the hidden population."

He said Brighton and Hove had good treatment programmes, and the drug action team worked well.

A total of 109 coroners from 120 jurisdictions in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, submitted information, together with one procurator fiscal from Scotland.

Notification of 1,382 drug related deaths in 2005 were received by the centre, a decrease of about 6% over the number reported for 2004.

Other areas

Brighton and Hove's drug death rate, the highest in England and Wales, was 24.2 per 100,000 of the population over the age of 16, compared with a rate of 22.3 in 2004, according to information submitted by coroners.

Dumbarton was the second worst area with 13.4 deaths per 100,000.

Blackpool and the Fylde came third, with a rate of 12.8 per 100,000, followed by the Isle of Man with 11.3, East Lancashire with 10, and Liverpool with 9.4.

The report said Exeter and greater Devon had a rate of 8.8 drug related deaths in 2005, and Southampton and the New Forest had a rate of 8.7.