THERE have been 28 drug related deaths among adults across Gwent during 2025 with ages of the - mainly male - victims ranging from 19 to 67.

Maria Evans, the representative for Gwent’s Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, briefed members of Monmouthshire County Council’s public services scrutiny committee on the planning board’s work and said in Monmouthshire during 2025 there had been three drug related deaths, who were all males, aged 31, 45 and 54.

During 2024 there had been 30 drug related deaths across Gwent with just one in Monmouthshire.

The figures were presented to councillors separately to those released by Public Health Wales which recorded 417 drug poisoning deaths across Wales in 2024 with 288 linked to drug misuse, the highest count recorded so far.

The figures from the Gwent board presented to councillors also highlight which substances are most frequently found in drug related deaths with heroin present in 15 followed by cocaine in 10 and ketamine in eight.

Pregablin, which is lawfully used to treat epilepsy and anxiety was also present in four deaths, including two in Monmouthshire with one death recorded at the Llanarth Court mental health hospital in Abergavenny, which is being investigated.

The other death involved cocaine and a man who the night before had consumed the drug and also had heart problems, and he was found by his wife.

Nitrous Oxide, which is also known laughing gas, was present in two deaths while tapentadol was present in four cases and diazepam in three.

Ms Evans also presented data on co-morbidities, that those who died had significant other health issues with mental health being the most common at 44 per cent, though most weren’t engaging with treatment.

Some weren’t registered with GPs at all, said Ms Evans, or weren’t attending regularly and the health board is offering enhanced outreach and also dental appointments in Newport which it plans to roll out across Gwent.

Housing was also a significant factor said Ms Evans: “A quarter of those who died were sofa surfing or living in temporary accommodation.”

Nitazine, a man-made opioid, has also been identified as an emerging threat in Gwent and was described as more powerful than heroin.

As a result that is disrupting how agencies have been attempting to reduce over dose deaths through using an antidote Naloxone.

To effectively use Naloxone to reverse an overdose when someone has taken nitazine can require two of the pens which each contain five injections, said Ms Evans.

“Nitazine can take up to 10 or 11 injections or doses to bring someone out of that overdose,” she said.”

As conventional opioids, such as heroin, can be laced with nitazine without users being aware they are able to take drugs to a testing centre in Lower Dock Street, in Newport, described as the only one of its kind in Wales.

All drug related deaths are reviewed by the board and it considers how they can be prevented and among recommendations it has made are for the ambulance service to instruct 999 callers how to administer Naloxone, after someone died from an overdose while waiting for an ambulance crew to perform the injections.