Death from cannabis use in England and Wales 1993-2023

Deaths related to cannabis use in England and Wales amounted to 32 in 2023. This was the highest annual amount in the past 30 years. The number of cannabis-related deaths was lowest in 2011,at seven deaths, and since 2014 the annual number of fatalities has remained above twenty. 

Use of cannabis
According to a survey, over 30 percent of the English and Welsh public admitted they had consumed cannabis as of 2023. Prevalence of cannabis use in the previous twelve months, however, was at just under eight percent. Generally, cannabis was not regarded to be as dangerous as other illegal or even legal drugs by the public. Over a third of surveyed British individuals considered cannabis to be not harmful, compared to only four percent who thought tobacco is not harmful. 

Caught green handed

In the period 2022/23, cannabis was by far the most common drug seized by the police and border force in England and Wales. Cannabis was seized over 140 thousand times, with the next highest number of seizures involving cocaine at 19 thousand. Although, the majority of the British public support a policy change regarding the legal status of cannabis. As of 2024, 56 percent of surveyed Brits believed cannabis and other soft drugs should be legalized or decriminalized.