The Home Office collects and publishes figures on seizures by the police in England and Wales of cannabis (herbal), cannabis resin and cannabis plants. Figures for the years 2001 to 2005 (the most recent published period) are shown in the following table.
The Home Office has undertaken a project to identify the market share of sinsemilla to other forms of cannabis (resin and traditional imported cannabis products) and their respective mean tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinoid (CBD) content. The findings of this project, which have been shared with the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs as part of its review of the classification of cannabis, will be published in due course. However, an early finding from samples submitted over a three month period in 2007-08 by a number of police forces in England and Wales suggests that sinsemilla accounts for 80 per cent. of the market share of police seizures.
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005s Number of seizures Cannabis (herbal) 28,532 36,911 32,858 38,595 69,766 Cannabis plants 1,711 2,199 2,680 2,780 4,098 Cannabis resin 46,626 44,662 40,976 32,727 38,572 Total cannabis3 73,220 74,250 79,600 74,613 111,212 Quantity of seizures (weighed)4 Cannabis (herbal) (kg) 7,183 3,823 13,909 2,789 2,905 Cannabis resin (kg) 20,011 8,657 27,861 21,676 25,045 Quantity of seizures (unweighted) Cannabis plants (plants) 67,679 52,118 80,498 88,674 208,357 1 Includes seizures by the National Crime Squad, but not joint operations with HM Revenue and Customs. 2 Categorisation of drug type broadly follows the lists scheduled in the Misuse of Drugs Acts. 3 The totals are lower than the sum of the constituent parts, as some seizures contain more than one drug type. 4 These drug types have been converted from other units using standard conversion factors. These factors were revised in 2005, so 2005 weighed quantities should not be compared with those for previous years. 5 Increases in cannabis seizures in 2005 are thought to be associated with the introduction of cannabis warnings on 1 April 2004.