Drugs: Crime Chris Huhne To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted and (c) imprisoned for dealing (i) cannabis and (ii) ecstasy in each year since 1997; (2) how many people were (a) found guilty and (b) sentenced to immediate custody for the unlawful importation of a controlled drug in each year since 1997; (3) how many and what percentage of (a) male and (b) female prisoners were serving sentences for drug-related offences in each year since 1997. Claire Ward The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody for ‘possession with intent to supply’ and ‘supplying or offering to supply’ cannabis and ecstasy in England and Wales, from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in table 1. The number of defendants found guilty at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody for unlawful importation of a controlled drug in England and Wales, from 1997 to 2007, is shown in table 2. The statistics given in tables 1 and 2 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. Court proceedings data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010. The number of males and females serving sentences in prison establishments in England and Wales for drug offences from 1997 to 2009 (as at 30 June each year) is shown in table 3. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1997 |1998 |1999 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis and cannabis resin. |3,275 |2,499 |1,129 |3,223|2,648|1,284|2,917|2,246|1,112| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): Cannabis and cannabis resin.|1,788 |1,414 |650 |1,830|1,442|656|1,580|1,168|573| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: MDMA. |787 |544 |410 |410|304|217|693|451|338| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): MDMA. |442 |310 |228 |308|246|179|408|231|173| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis and cannabis resin. |2,169 |1,802 |808 |1,799 |1,358 |618 |1,787 |1,388 |547 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): Cannabis and cannabis resin.|1,001 |842 |405 |794 |613 |265 |758 |592 |258 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: MDMA. |1,081 |736 |520 |1,352 |960 |690 |1,064 |830 |578 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): MDMA. |545 |327 |234 |528 |376 |252 |399 |365 |216 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis and cannabis resin. |2,050 |1,470 |475 |1,525 |1,247 |420 |1,588 |993 |272 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): Cannabis and cannabis resin.|740 |522 |222 |617 |456 |156 |588 |393 |135 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: MDMA. |947 |746 |461 |726 |603 |394 |649 |557 |342 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): MDMA. |306 |219 |127 |261 |172 |100 |245 |187 |91 | 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| |Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Proceeded against|Found guilty|Immediate custody| 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|Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis and cannabis resin. |1,594 |957 |240 |1,614 |958 |232 | 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|Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): Cannabis and cannabis resin. |622 |385 |101 |554 |367 |101 | 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|Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: MDMA. |582 |434 |256 |592 |513 |276 | 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|Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): MDMA. |207 |169 |81 |217 |169 |73 | 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|1 These data are on the principal offence basis.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.3 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.4 Following reclassification in January 2004 to a class C drug, statutory maximum penalty for possession of cannabis was downgraded from five to two years.Source:Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis unit| | | | | | | 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------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Number of defendants | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |1997|1998|1999|2000| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Unlawful importation of a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971|1,239|974|1,190|1,032|1,171|1,072|1,165|1,115| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2001 |2002 |2003 |2004 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody4|Found guilty|Immediate custody4| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Unlawful importation of a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971|1,648 |1,511 |1,599 |1,588 |1,063|1,075|975|977| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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| |2005 |2006 |2007 | 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| |Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody|Found guilty|Immediate custody| 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|Unlawful importation of a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 |1,026 |979 |835 |787|783|762| 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|1 These data are on the principal offence basis.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.3 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.4 The immediate custody column exceeds those found guilty, as it may be the case that a defendant was found guilty in one year and sentenced in the following year.Source:Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis unit| | | |||| 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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1997 |1998 |1999 |2000 |2001 |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Males | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Immediate custodial sentence |46,611|49,793|48,862|50,434|51,272|53,936|55,919|57,475|58,703|59,898|62,188|64,600|64,993| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Drug offences |6,483 |7,099 |7,294 |7,526 |8,010 |8,749 |8,988 |9,252 |9,427 |9,484 |9,569 |9,992 |9,803 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Drug offences as percentage of all |14 |14 |15 |15 |16 |16 |16 |16 |16 |16 |15 |15 |15 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Females | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Immediate custodial sentence |2,063 |2,366 |2,431 |2,659 |2,897 |3,336 |3,474 |3,449 |3,476 |3,506 |3,345 |3,524 |3,382 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Drug offences |691 |794 |875 |947 |1,137 |1,317 |1,342 |1,235 |1,234 |1,163 |1,044 |990 |893 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Drug offences as percentage of all |33 |34 |36 |36 |39 |39 |39 |36 |36 |33 |31 |28 |26 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Source:Figures taken from Offender Management Caseload Statistics, table 7.2 for 2007 and 2008 up to the year 2008 and from monthly Ministry of Justice Bulletin for June 2009| | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------