Substance Misuse

Substance misuse is the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or over-the-counter or prescription medications in a way that they are not meant to be used and could be harmful to you or others around you. People can misuse substances one time, occasionally, or regularly, and they can go on to develop substance use disorder.

This dashboard summarises data on substance misuse prevalence, impacts, hospital admissions, and treatment for the Barnet population.

To access the Substance Misuse Needs Assessment, please click here.

What’s new?

• Smoking prevalence data for 2024

• Rates of adults in and completing specialist alcohol/drug treatment for 2024/25

• Alcohol mortality data for 2024

• Substance misuse admissions data for 2025

Headline Figures

• 11.5% of men and 6.0% of women in Barnet are current smokers (2024).

• The rate of alcohol-specific hospital admissions in men (682 per 100,000) is over triple the rate observed in women (191 per 100,000) in 2023/24 in Barnet, though rates in both genders are below the London and England averages. The majority of admissions are due to alcohol-related cardiovascular disease.

• The rate of alcohol-related mortality in 2024 was 26.4 per 100,000 – this is significantly higher in men than in women.

• The rate of admissions due to substance misuse has significantly declined since 2015, and most recently was 11.1 per 100,000 in 2024, which is below the England average.

• The rate of deaths by drug poisoning in Barnet is 4.4 per 100,000 (2022-24) – this is the second-lowest rate of all London boroughs and is significantly lower than the England average (8.8 per 100,000).

• The rate of adults in specialist alcohol treatment in 2024/25 was 1.2 per 1,000 (below the England average) with a successful completion rate of 27%. 3.2 per 1,000 adults are in specialist drug treatment services (also below the England average), with a successful completion rate of 24% for non-opiate drugs and 3% for opiate drugs. In 2024/25, no Barnet resident had to wait more than 3 weeks to access specialist alcohol or drug treatment.

Narrative

Alcohol:

• There are 9.9 premises licences to sell alcohol per km² in Barnet – this is higher than the England average but lower than the London average.

• Alcohol-related mortality in Barnet in 2024 was significantly higher in men (39.7 per 100,000) than in women (15.8 per 100,000). Overall, the mortality rate in Barnet is similar to London and below the England average. In 2023, there were 502 potential life years lost due to alcohol-related conditions in Barnet.

• Under 75 alcoholic liver disease mortality as of 2022-24 was 6.8 per 100,000; this is similar to the London average (8.6 per 100,000) and significantly below the England average (11.4 per 100,000).

• In 2023/24, the rate of alcohol-specific admissions was 423 per 100,000 Barnet residents. This is significantly higher than the rate observed in 2022/23 but is still below the London (564 per 100,000) and England (612 per 100,000) averages.

  • Admissions rates are significantly higher in men, at 682 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 191 per 100,000 in women in 2023/24.

  • In men, alcohol-related admissions are highest in those aged 65 years or older (1,262 per 100,000); in women, admissions are highest in both those aged 40-64 years (355 per 100,000) and those aged 65+ (310 per 100,000).

  • People of White ethnicity are overrepresented in alcohol admissions, making up 66% of admissions compared to just 58% of the general population in Barnet.

  • As of 2020/21, the estimated cost per captia of alcohol-related hospital admissions was £38 in Barnet (compared to £41 in London and £49 in England).

• In 2024/25, the rate of adults in specialist alcohol treatment was 1.2 per 1,000 – this is significantly lower than the England average. The successful completion rate stands at approximately 27%, which is similar to both the London and England average.

  • 100% of Barnet residents were able to access treatments in less than three weeks (2024/25) and the mortality rate of those in treatment stands at 1.1 per 1,000 (2019/20 – 2021/22).

  • In 2024/25, just over half of those in treatment in Barnet were aged 30-49 years and almost 60% were male.

Drugs:

• Incidents of drug crime vary across the borough. From December 2022 – March 2026, LSOA 017B located in Totteridge & Woodside ward had the highest number of incidents of drug crime. In terms of drug-related stop and searches, those aged 18-24 make up 34% of searches, the highest of any age group.

  In 2022-24, the rate of deaths related to drug poisoning in Barnet was 4.4 per 100,000 – this is significantly lower than both London (6.4 per 100,000) and England (8.8 per 100,000) averages. Barnet has the second-lowest rate of drug poisoning deaths of all London boroughs, with only Redbridge being lower in 2022-24. Rates are similar in both men and women.

• In 2025, the rate of hospital admissions for substance misuse for Barnet residents was 11.1 per 100,000, representing a significant decline compared to 2015. Rates are similar to the London average, and below the England average.

  • In terms of demographics, those aged 30-49 years are the most represented, making up 34% of substance misuse admissions, and overall admission rates are similar in men and women.

• The rate of adults in specialist drug treatment services in Barnet in 2024/25 was 3.2 per 1,000.

  • No Barnet resident had to wait more than 3 weeks to access specialist drug treatment in 2024/25, and the majority of treatments (55%) have a length of under 1 year.

  • In 2024/25, over half of those in specialist drug treatment in Barnet were aged 30-49, 71% were of White ethnicity, and 74% are male.

  • The most common reason for exit of treatment is successful completion (16%), followed by users dropping out (13%), though the second most common is successful completion.

  • For opiate users, the successful completion rate stands at 3% whilst for non-opiate users it is 24% – both of these rates are lower than the London and England averages.

Smoking:

• In 2024, 8.5% of Barnet’s population are current smokers, which is similar to both the London and England average.

• The prevalence of smoking in men (11.5%) is almost double the prevalence reported in women (6.0%).