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13 Nov 2008 : Column 1348W—continued


Drug Seizures

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to publishing information on drugs seizures below the national level. [232905]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office does currently collect and publish information on drug seizures below the national level. For information, the latest bulletin Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales, 2006-07 was published on 30 October 2008. Alongside this publication, additional tables were published which include data specific to police force area and Government office region. The publication and the tables are available at:

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many seizures of (a) methamphetamine, (b) cannabis and (c) heroin have been made by (i) police and (ii) HM Customs in each year since 1997; and what quantity was seized in each year. [234484]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The available data are given in the following table.

Seizures for methamphetamine are included within the classification 'Other Class A' (injection) and 'Other Class B' (non-injection) in publications. These seizures cannot be extracted from these classifications prior to the most recently published year, 2006-07.


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13 Nov 2008 : Column 1350W
Table 1: Number and quantity1 of seizures made by Police and HM Revenue and Customs, by drug type and year: England and Wales
Number and quantity of seizures
Drug type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006-07( 2)

Police Forces

Numbers

Heroin

10,444

12,593

12,644

12,971

14,517

12,543

10,460

10,980

13,243

13,141

Cannabis

73,450

86,540

92,210

78,350

73,220

74,250

79,600

74,613

111,212

133,195

Methamphetamine(3)(kg)

49

Quantities

Heroin (kg)

421

319

1,292

1,946

2,682

1,595

1,038

1.131

770

473

Cannabis (kg)

68,978

13,856

12,377

36,754

27,194

12,480

41,770

24,465

27,950

5,036

Cannabis plants

77,573

70,017

53,058

45,462

67,679

52,118

80,498

88,674

208,357

344,360

Methamphetamine(3)(kg)

235

HM Revenue and Customs

Numbers

Heroin

59

83

84

170

112

89

109

94

88

64

Cannabis

858

1,019

1,707

3,285

3,310

3,977

3,152

2,869

2,990

3,932

Methamphetamine(3)(kg)

5

Quantities

Heroin (kg)

1418

138

148

1,383

1,314

1,020

1,619

978

1,094

530

Cannabis (kg)

2,955

5,751

16,825

35,302

62,737

63,807

56,776

58,982

41,660

40,364

Cannabis plants

16

21

Methamphetamine(3)(kg)

0.1

(1) Drugs can be seized in a variety of forms or preparation types. In this table, quantities of drugs have been converted to weights (kg) or plants. In order to convert seizures to comparable units, conversion factors are applied to estimate the overall quantity for that drug. New conversion factors were introduced in 2005, in consultation with the Forensic Science Service.
(2) Reporting of drug seizures have been moved to a financial year basis from 2006-07 to be comparable with other crime publications
(3) Seizures of methamphetamine are included in Other Class A (injection) or Other Class B (non-injection) in published tables. Methamphetamine seizures cannot be extracted from these classifications prior to 2006-07.

Drugs: Crime

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of those accused of (a) possession of and (b) dealing in cannabis were (i) found not guilty, (ii) fined and (iii) imprisoned in each year since 2006. [234485]

Mr. Alan Campbell: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against, found not guilty, fined and imprisoned (and respective percentage rates of the number proceeded against) for possession and dealing in cannabis in England and Wales 1997 to 2006 are in the following table.

Information on the number accused is not held by my Department, proceeded against data have been supplied in lieu.

Data for 2007 will be available at the end of November 2008.

The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.


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Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found not guilty, fined and imprisoned at all courts for possession and dealing( 1) in cannabis, England and Wales, 1997 to 2006( 2,3)
Found not guilty Fined Immediate custody

Proceeded against Number Percentage of those proceeded against Number Percentage of those proceeded against Number Percentage of those proceeded against

1997

Possession of cannabis

18,940

1,665

9

11,890

63

268

1

Dealing in cannabis

5,063

1,150

23

357

7

1,779

35

1998

Possession of cannabis

24,395

1,752

7

15,503

64

410

2

Dealing in cannabis

5,053

963

19

399

8

1,940

38

1999

Possession of cannabis

24,322

1,699

7

15,215

63

451

2

Dealing in cannabis

4,497

1,083

24

313

7

1,685

37

2000

Possession of cannabis

22,304

1,578

7

13,638

61

361

2

Dealing in cannabis

3,195

526

16

231

7

1,213

38

2001

Possession of cannabis

22,705

1,953

9

12,960

57

290

1

Dealing in cannabis

2,593

622

24

160

6

883

34

2002

Possession of cannabis

25,976

2,321

9

14,123

54

241

1

Dealing in cannabis

2,545

565

22

154

6

805

32

2003

Possession of cannabis

27,871

2,157

8

15,172

54

288

1

Dealing in cannabis

2,790

798

29

144

5

697

25

2004

Possession of cannabis

14,646

1,326

9

6,972

48

161

1

Dealing in cannabis

2,142

439

20

122

6

576

27

2005

Possession of cannabis

13,040

945

7

6,316

48

136

1

Dealing in cannabis

2,176

790

36

87

4

407

19

2006

Possession of cannabis

13,450

914

7

6,368

47

141

1

Dealing in cannabis

2,216

874

39

50

2

341

15

(1) Includes supply and possession with intent to supply
(2) These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Source:
Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice IOS 554-08

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