HC Deb 02 February 1978 vol 943 cc666-7
2. Mr. Hooson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were convicted in England and Wales of drug offences and drink offences, respectively, for the last year for which complete figures are available.

Mr. John

The latest figures available are for 1976. In that year, 11,220 people were convicted of drugs offences and 111,884 of offences against the intoxicating liquor laws. In addition, 50,238 people were convicted of road traffic offences involving either drink or drugs.

Mr. Hooson

Do not those figures and the figures given to me by the Chairman of the National Council for Alcoholism indicate that alcoholism and intoxication are now greater problems in this country than are drugs? What does the Home Office intend to do about it?

Mr. John

The figures for simple drunkenness fell by a small amount. The increase was in drunkenness with aggravation—drunk and disorderly cases. That is a problem that we shall study, in common with other crimes of violence.

Mr. Lipton

How many cases involved the use of cannabis, which is a non-criminal offence in many parts of the world?

Mr. John

I am unable to say specifically how many cannabis offences are included in the statistics. My hon. Friend said that the use of cannabis was not a crime in many countries, but it is still a crime in most countries, and the decriminalisation spoken of in the United States is not intended not to make it a crime.

Sir Bernard Braine

Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that a breakdown of the figures would show that the toll of death and injury on the roads due to alcohol abuse is rising, especially among the young? Is he aware that road accidents account for half of all male deaths between the ages of 15 and 24, and that the largest factor in all those cases is alcohol? Does he agree, therefore, that the delay in implementing the sensible proposals of the Blennerhasset Committee is costing lives?

Mr. John

The statistics show the link between drinking and driving and how dangerous it is to drive after having drunk. But the Blennerhasset Report is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.