The BBC has been called out after a newsreader wrongly reported that Britain consumed 117 million tonnes of cocaine a year.
The incorrect figure would mean the country consumed the equivalent of over 4.7kg of cocaine per person, per day.
On Wednesday morning, a newsreader on BBC Radio 2 wrongly claimed that, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA), Britain consumes “117 million tonnes of cocaine each year”.
This same false fact was repeated in other news bulletins on Radio 3 and 6Music which said: “The NCA says Britain consumes 117 million tonnes of cocaine every year.”
However, the alarmingly high figure is nowhere near the true amount of the class-A drug consumed in Britain each year.
The NCA predicts that the actual amount of national consumption sits at a considerably lower 117 tonnes per year.
The BBC acknowledged the mistake and a spokesperson said: “There was an error in the number given in a radio script which was heard on Radio 2 and 6Music news.
“This error was spotted and corrected for later live bulletins.”
Radio listeners questioned the number after hearing it broadcast live. One person wrote on social media: “Hang on. @BBC6Music 117 million tonnes of cocaine consumed by Brits every year? That's nearly 5kg per person per day. I think someone has misreported...”
Although cocaine consumption has not reached the levels reported by the BBC, there is evidence to suggest it has increased in recent years.
In 2021, a Home Office programme which estimated rates of consumption by taking samples from wastewater treatment showed cocaine consumption increased by 7 per cent between April 2023 and April 2024.
In August last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics also revealed 1,118 fatalities were linked to cocaine, up 30.5 per cent on the previous year.
This represents a near ten-fold increase compared 2011, when just 112 deaths involved cocaine.
There has also been an uptick in the amount of cocaine seized by police and border forces, with 28 tonnes of powder cocaine having been seized across England and Wales in the year ending March 2024.
This marked a 52 per cent increase on the previous year and the largest quantity of cocaine seized since current comparable records began in 1973.
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