从酒吧厕所和私人派对到足球场看台和极右翼游行，可卡因在现代英国已成了一种常见的存在。与该毒品相关的死亡人数已升至历史最高水平，而其供应则支撑着一个价值数十亿英镑的犯罪产业。
From pub toilets and private parties to football terraces and far-right marches, cocaine has become a familiar presence across modern Britain. Deaths linked to the drug have risen to record levels, while its supply supports a multibillion-pound criminal industry.
但是，谁在使用这种毒品？情况又是如何变化的？这些数字并不一定表明新增了数百万用户，而是突显了一个成熟的市场：在这个市场中，部分人吸食可卡因的剂量更大、频率更高，并且随着年龄增长面临着更大的危害。每年98亿英镑的习瘾？
But who is using the drug, and how has the picture changed? The figures do not necessarily show millions of new users, but highlight an established market in which some people take more cocaine, more often – and face greater harm as they grow older.
今年6月，内政部的科学家发布了一份关于可卡因消费的新实验性评估报告。对污水样本的检测显示，2021年至2025年间，可卡因的使用量上升了26%。他们估计，英格兰人在2024至2025年度消费了12.3万公斤可卡因：相当于约25亿道（吸食线），估计街头价值达98亿英镑。
A £9.8bn-a-year habit?
然而，犯罪调查数据表明，自大流行以来，报告在过去一年中使用过可卡因的人数一直保持平稳或略有下降。一种解释是，人数相近或更少的人群使用该毒品的频率更高了。另一种解释是，该调查将无家可归者或居住在收容机构的人排除在外，且部分受访者可能不愿承认自己使用非法药物。
In June this year the scientists at the Home Office published a new experimental estimate of cocaine consumption. Samples taken from sewage suggested that cocaine use rose by 26% between 2021 and 2025. They estimated that people in England consumed 123,000kg of cocaine in 2024-25: the equivalent of roughly 2.5bn lines, with an estimated street value of £9.8bn.
药物市场专家乔什·托兰斯（Josh Torrance）博士表示，废水分析可以揭示调查未能统计的使用情况。在对音乐节参加者进行调查后，他说：“人们在面对陌生人时，往往不会如实说出自己使用毒品的情况。”尽管污水评估存在相当大的误差区间，且估计的街头价值也应当大打折扣，但其发展趋势大致是准确的。
Yet crime survey data suggests the number of people reporting cocaine use in the past year has remained flat or fallen slightly since the pandemic. One explanation is that a similar or smaller number of people are using the drug more frequently. Another is that the survey excludes people who are homeless or living in institutions, and some respondents may be reluctant to admit to illegal drug use.
直到最近才变得便宜的可卡因 多年来，市场上的可卡因价格一直在下跌。英国国家打击犯罪局（NCA）向《卫报》表示，批发价在2022年跌至大流行前水平以下，并在2025年达到“历史最低水平”。不过，该机构发现有迹象表明，批发价在2026年再度回升。
Dr Josh Torrance, a specialist in drug markets, says wastewater analysis can reveal use that surveys miss. Having surveyed festivalgoers, he said: "People are often not honest about their drug use with strangers." Although sewage estimates have substantial margins of error, and the estimated street value should be taken with a pinch of salt, the direction of travel is broadly accurate.
托兰斯通过一组供应商追踪了一盎司可卡因的标价。他说，价格从2022年3月的约1300英镑跌至2023年8月的约1000英镑。当他在2025年9月恢复收集数据时，价格约为700英镑。这一价格一直保持稳定，直到今年6月涨至约800英镑；7月时达到了1000英镑。到9月时，价格已回落至约950英镑。
Cheaper cocaine, until recently For several years, the market offered cocaine at falling prices. The National Crime Agency (NCA) told the Guardian that wholesale prices dropped below pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and reached "historically low levels" in 2025. However, it has seen signs that wholesale prices are rising again in 2026.
谈到夏季的价格上涨时，他说：“我从未见过可卡因价格涨得这么快。”他怀疑是供应中断所致，但表示在一个拥有众多供应商和运输路线的市场中，很难确切查明原因。
Torrance tracks advertised prices for an ounce of cocaine from a pool of vendors. He says the price fell from about £1,300 in March 2022 to about £1,000 by August 2023. When he resumed collecting data in September 2025, it was about £700. That remained steady until June this year, when it rose to roughly £800; in July it reached £1,000. By September it had eased to about £950.
高纯度意味着更便宜的供应更具危险性。托兰斯表示，作为“纯品”销售的可卡因纯度通常在70%至80%左右，而稀释程度更高的档次（有时作为“社交可卡因”销售）纯度可能在60%左右。英国国家打击犯罪局表示，近年来的批发纯度一直保持在高位。在托兰斯看来，“价格下降推高了使用量。随着使用量的增加和纯度的提高，最终会导致更多死亡。”
"I've never seen such a quick increase in the price of cocaine," he says of the summer rise. He suspects a supply disruption, but says the cause is difficult to pin down in a market with many suppliers and routes.
白色的吸食线，灰白的头发 犯罪调查数据表明——尽管存在需要说明的前提条件——年轻人仍然是最有可能使用该毒品的人群，但年轻人中的使用率正在下降，而在较年长的年龄段中则在上升。
High purity means that cheaper supply is more dangerous. Torrance says cocaine sold as "pure" is often about 70-80% pure, and a more diluted tier (sometimes marketed as "social cocaine") may be about 60%. The NCA says wholesale purity has remained high in recent years. In Torrance's view, "a reduced price drives up use. With increased use and increased purity, you end up with more deaths." White lines, grey hairs Crime survey data – while subject to caveats – shows younger people are still the most likely to use the drug, but that use is falling among the young, and rising among older age groups.
其他统计数据也印证了这一点。在英格兰，2024至2025年度有33,612人开始接受可卡因问题的治疗，比2019至2020年度增加了57%，这也表明高频吸食者人数有所增加。
Other statistics back this up. In England, 33,612 people started treatment for cocaine problems in 2024-25 – up 57% from 2019-20 – which also suggests an increase in frequent users.
千禧一代似乎是问题使用情况最严重的一代。三十多岁的人是寻求帮助的最大年龄群体。十年前，这一群体则是二十多岁的人。托兰斯说：“我们看到了一群可卡因使用者在变老的同时，仍在继续使用可卡因。”
Millennials seem to be the generation with the most problematic use. People in their 30s were the largest age group seeking help. Ten years earlier, it was those in their 20s. "We've seen a cohort of cocaine users age and continue to use cocaine," says Torrance.
暴力犯罪的燃料 根据《卫报》从39个警察部队收集的数据显示，自2019年以来，提及可卡因的刑事犯罪记录上升了10%。
Fuel for violent crime There has been a 10% rise in recorded crime rates mentioning cocaine since 2019, according to figures collected by the Guardian from 39 police forces.
警方在2025年记录了近3万起提及“可卡因”一词的犯罪。其中大部分是毒品犯罪，但有18%是暴力犯罪，包括跟踪骚扰以及一起谋杀案。约4%是性犯罪，其中包括344起强奸案。
Police recorded almost 30,000 crimes mentioning the word cocaine in 2025. Most were drug offences, but 18% were violent crimes, including stalking and harassment and one murder case. About 4% were sexual offences, including 344 rapes.
提及可卡因的警方记录本身并不能证明可卡因的使用情况，但这些数据确实表明了发展趋势。
A police record mentioning cocaine does not by itself demonstrate cocaine use but the figures do give an indication of the direction of travel.
内政部的数据显示，在2025年7月至今年6月期间，因涉嫌家庭暴力而被捕的人员中，警方进行的毒品检测有近十分之六呈可卡因阳性。接受检测的人可能比其他家暴嫌疑人更有可能使用过毒品，但这些数据突显了可卡因所起到的加剧作用。
Home Office figures suggest that nearly six in 10 police drug tests carried out on people arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse were positive for cocaine between July 2025 and June this year. Those tested may be more likely to have used drugs than other domestic abuse suspects, but the figures highlight cocaine's exacerbating role.
致命的代价 更多老年人吸食可卡因、街头毒品纯度提高以及高频吸食者人数可能增加，这些情况同时出现，带来了不断加剧的危害，而且受害的不只是犯罪受害者。在英格兰和威尔士，因吸食可卡因死亡的人数目前达到了创纪录的水平 这一增长主要是由老年人推动的，去年登记的可卡因死亡病例中，有一半以上涉及40岁以上的人。
A deadly toll More older people taking cocaine, increased purity on the streets, and a possible increase in frequent users have coincided with mounting harms, and not just for the victims of crime. A record number of people are now dying from taking cocaine in England and Wales This rise has mainly been driven by older people, with more than half of cocaine deaths registered last year involving someone over 40.
托兰斯表示，持续吸食可卡因的人群的老龄化，体现在医院就诊人数和死亡人数上。他说，急性药物过量死亡通常涉及心脏问题，而长期使用的健康影响则增加了风险。
Torrance says the ageing of a group that continues to use cocaine is reflected in hospital presentations and deaths. Acute overdose deaths often involve cardiac problems, he says, while the health effects of long-term use add to the risks.
去年的独立报告发现，尽管有国际证据表明药物预防项目行之有效，但英国仍缺乏一个拥有专项资金的协调一致的药物预防战略。
An independent report last year found that the UK lacked a coordinated drug prevention strategy with dedicated funding, despite international evidence showing drug prevention programmes work.
托兰斯说：“过去5到10年里可卡因死亡人数急剧上升的一个原因，是我们没有对上游预防进行投资。”更早的毒品教育以及帮助高风险人群接触服务将会有所帮助。
"One reason cocaine deaths have risen so dramatically over the last five to 10 years is that we didn't invest in upstream prevention," Torrance says. Earlier drug education and helping people at risk engage with services would help.
“我们在这方面做得越多，几十年后我们看到的这类问题就会越少。”
"The more we can do that, the fewer of these issues we'll see decades down the line."