The number of deaths related to illegal drugs in Germany has risen significantly in recent years and reached a record high in 2023. A total of 2,227 people died in 2023 due to the consumption of illegal substances, 237 more than in the year before, Germany’s commissioner for addiction and drug issues, Burkhard Blienert, announced in Berlin on Wednesday. The figure is the highest number ever recorded in the country. According to the report, there was a significant increase in deaths related to cocaine and crack cocaine, which rose from 507 to 610. Heroin was still the drug most frequently assoc…