Information showing the number of persons found guilty at all courts for drug possession and dealing in the Avon and Somerset police force area from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
Offence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Having possession of a controlled drug 381 422 541 581 523 502 504 420 375 422 574 Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply 75 99 86 89 101 110 124 115 116 120 150 Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug 83 85 9 2 83 38 45 74 64 58 36 58 1 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences 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. 2 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.