Drugs and substance misuse

Successful delivery of the government’s Drugs Strategy, ‘From harm to hope’ , in response to the excellent reviews led by Dame Carol Black, relies on co-ordinated action across a range of local partners including those in enforcement, treatment, recovery and prevention. Locally, we have built on the previous drug strategy, co-produced with our partners and developed a new whole-system substance misuse strategy for Kent (will publish for public consultation soon), in alignment with 'From harm to hope’ guidance for local delivery partners. This strategy is underpinned by the Kent Drug Needs Assessment which includes a variety of data sources, including hospital episode data, ONS and Kent substance misuse treatment service data, taking into account national guidance and reflecting the evidence base.

Our resources

Data and reports

We have produced a Drug Needs Assessment for Kent.

We have produced a report on drug use and dependence from figures published in November 2025 as part of the 2023-24 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS). The report shows prevalence estimates for England and applies them to the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid‑year population estimates for Kent.

In January 2026 we published a health needs assessment for Adults with multiple complex needs. It includes adults who are aged over 18 years and over and experiencing two or more disadvantaged domains of alcohol or substance misuse, mental health, homelessness, offending, and domestic violence.

Additional information can be found in our Health and Social Care Maps self-serve tool. We are constantly developing this resource in response to your feedback.

We also have available previous versions of drug needs assessments:

External resources

A number of organisations produce statistics relating to drugs and substance misuse, both at national and local level.

NHS Digital publish a Statistics on Public Health report which includes information on alcohol use and misuse and drug misuse and a 'Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People' report.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish statistics on drug-related deaths
The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) provide key information and data about drug misuse and treatment services.
The OHID Health Profiles and Child Health Profiles provide snapshot overviews of health for local areas, and include some data on prevalence and drug-related hospital admissions.