Milan, June 24 (LaPresse) – Cocaine remains one of the substances with the greatest health and social impact in Italy. In 2024, 35% of deaths directly linked to acute lethal intoxication were attributed to this drug—a figure that has steadily increased over the years, reaching its highest level ever in 2024.
This is according to the 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Drug Addiction in Italy, which presents data from 2024. For the first time, the number of deaths directly linked to cocaine/crack use (80 cases) confirmed by law enforcement was nearly equal to those caused by heroin/opioid use (81 cases).
Cocaine also accounted for 30% of drug-related hospital admissions, a rate that remained stable compared to 2023. Among individuals receiving treatment from addiction services (SerD), 23% use cocaine as their primary substance, and 3.3% use crack (base cocaine).
Wastewater analysis shows that cocaine was the second most widely used illegal psychoactive substance in Italy in 2024, with an estimated 11 doses per day per 1,000 inhabitants, a slight increase compared to 2020–2022.
More than alcohol and tobacco, cocaine is also the substance most frequently involved in polydrug use. Reflecting a trend that began in 2020–2021, there has been a steady rise in the number of crack samples seized on the retail market with very high concentrations of active ingredient (around 90%).
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