Cannabis and cocaine are most popular illegal drugs in Wales
COCAINE is the Class A drug most seized by police in Wales. But it is dwarfed by the amount of cannabis seized.
In 2022-23, Welsh police seized 122kg of powder cocaine – that’s more than triple the amount of the 36kg the previous year. This could make around 2.4m usual 50mg “doses” of cocaine.
Cocaine has become cheaper, more accessible, and much more prevalent in society.
Its effects, though, are not widely acknowledged despite being desperately damaging and sometimes fatal.
Police also seized 4kg of crack cocaine, about 40,000 typical 100mg doses. During the same time, 25kg of heroin was seized by police in Wales – that’s about 250,000 doses.
Even though the weight of drugs seized doesn’t always show the exact amount being taken, it does give us a clue about how popular they are.
Drugs like cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA), heroin, LSD, magic mushrooms, methadone, and methamphetamine (crystal meth) are all classed as Class A drugs.
If you’re caught with or selling these, you could get a longer stay in prison.
The most popular illegal drug overall is cannabis, which is classed as a Class B drug. Police in Wales seized a total of 241kg of herbal cannabis, 15kg of cannabis resin and almost 16,000 cannabis plants in 2022-23.
Cocaine ranks second to cannabis as the most popular illegal drug in most parts of the country.
However, in the former Gwent area, more amphetamine was seized. Gwent Police confiscated 9kg of the Class B drug, which includes stimulants such as speed – enough for 180,000 doses.