Drugs and alcohol in Reading.

Reading local authority · 4 cards

Drug use and alcohol harm in Reading — modelled hidden drug use, recorded alcoholic liver disease, and drug misuse deaths.

Plain-English context

Around 14.4 in every 1,000 people aged 15 to 64 in Reading are estimated to use opiates and/or crack cocaine (2022/23). DHSC and UKHSA modelled the size of a hidden population, not people in treatment. The age-standardised hospital admission rate for alcoholic liver disease was 27.2 per 100,000 in 2022/23. Admissions count episodes, not individual people. The age-standardised death rate from alcoholic liver disease before age 75 was 13 per 100,000 per year, averaged across 2022 to 2024. The age-standardised death rate from drug misuse was 6.3 per 100,000 per year, averaged across 2022 to 2024. Drug-use estimates and recorded alcohol harms measure different things and are not directly comparable. Missing or suppressed rates are not zero.

Sources: DHSC and UKHSA opiate and crack cocaine use prevalence estimates; OHID alcohol liver disease admissions and mortality (Local Alcohol Profiles for England), via OHID Fingertips. Each card states its reporting period; open its share page for the retrieval date and full provenance.