Overdoses have more than doubled in 10 years, warns the anti-narcotics office

Deaths linked to drug or medication use have jumped 171% in 10 years. This is the dramatic health observation relayed by the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast), in a note consulted by AFP, Monday November 9. According to a Dramas survey (Deaths in relation to drug and substance abuse) from the Center for Evaluation and Information on Drug Dependence and Addictovigilance in Grenoble, cited in this note, “659 deaths” linked to the consumption of narcotics or medications were recorded in 2024 “compared to 243 in 2014”.

The victims range in age from 14 to 71, with the average age being 39. They concern men in 79% of cases. The majority of victims died at home (62%), then on public roads (12%) or in hospital (7%). In Paris in particular, the public prosecutor's office has already warned of this explosion of overdoses since the start of the year. “Since 2017, and particularly since 2023-2024, France has experienced very high availability of narcotics,” it is noted.

If "cannabis remains the most consumed illicit substance" with "five million users in 2023", the use of cocaine "continues to increase rapidly", details the note, recalling that "nearly one in ten adults" declared having already tried this product in 2023. And the average purity continues to increase. That of cocaine increased in two years from 63% in 2023 to 75% in 2025, cannabis resin from 18% in 2013 to 31% in 2025. Furthermore, “synthetic drugs and psychoactive products are increasing”.

Last year, the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies identified "between 450 and 500 new synthetic products" in circulation in the country. Offered in a festive setting, often in polyconsumption, these substances constitute “a significant risk of overdose” and “aggravate the threat to public health”, it is underlined. Example with synthetic cannabinoids, “particularly popular with young consumers”, which “can present effects up to 200 times stronger than those of THC”, the psychoactive molecule of cannabis.

But substitute drugs remain "the leading cause of overdose in France", with, in 2024, "338 deaths, or 51% of cases", followed by cocaine (222 deaths), heroin (75 deaths), cannabis (65 deaths), amphetamines including MDMA (41 deaths) and new synthetic products (33 deaths).

“Since 2023, an increase in fatal overdoses involving amphetamines has been observed — more than 40 per year compared to 17 in 2022 — with a prevalence of MDMA,” according to the note.