requiem-for-a-dream

Drugs: Number of Fatal Overdoses Has Doubled in the Capital

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The Editor

Requiem for a Dream © Thousand Words / Protozoa Pictures

We know that in recent years, drug consumption in the French capital has been on a downward trend. But this year marks a real source of concern for the Paris prosecutor's office, which has noted a rise in deaths linked to drug use, particularly in the context of intimate encounters.

At the start of the year, you were told about a terrifying reality: in 2025, the number of deaths linked to excessive drug use stood at around thirty. An already alarming increase compared to the previous year, and clearly showing no signs of stopping, since the beginning of the year, according to official reports, we've already reached nearly double that figure…


A scourge affecting the entire population

It was during a statement to AFP that prosecutor Laure Beccuau expressed all of her concerns. Indeed, according to the latest official figures available, between January 1st and September 28th, no fewer than 59 people have already lost their lives following an overdose in the capital. That's

an average of 6.5 people per month. And if this figure seems trivial to you, over the entire year of 2025, "only" 29 people had lost their lives for this reason. What's to blame? A weapon of crime that affects everyone. Both addicted, isolated people and those in need as well as upper-class professionals. While men are more affected than women, the difference remains slight, and we've even found a minor among the victims.


One drug primarily to blame 

Several reasons explain this increase, along with the diversity of user profiles. We can point to, for example, the variety of consumption contexts, but also the ease of obtaining substances in the capital. And while half of the deaths are due to cocaine, a significant portion is also linked to the massive development of synthetic drugs, whose components often remain unclear and highly dangerous when mixed with the wrong substances. A polysubstance use that's becoming increasingly common, for example during chemsex sessions. A practice that involves attempting to enhance sexual pleasure through drug consumption, originally mainly known in the gay communities, which is spreading more and more, thus involving increasingly more tragedies…