§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, of those persons stopped and searched under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1967 and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, what was the number for each year since 1972 found unlawfully to possess controlled drugs in (i) England and Wales as a whole, and (ii) the Metropolitan Police district; and in each case what percentage these figures represent of the total arrested under these Acts for each of these years in both these areas.
§ Mr. Whitelaw[pursuant to his reply, 12 March 1980, c. 636]: The information available is given in the following tables; the information available for the Metropolitan police district is on a different 390W basis from that for the rest of England and Wales and figures for the whole of England and Wales are not available on either basis.
TABLE 1 PERSONS FOUND IN ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED DRUGS FOLLOWING STOP AND SEARCH* AND PERSONS DEALT WITH† FOR DRUGS ACT‡ OFFENCES England and Wales (excluding the Metropolitan Police District) Number of persons Year Found in illegal possession of controlled drugs following a stop-search* Dealt with† for Drugs Act‡ offences Percentage (1) of (2) (1) (2) 1972 5,095 ֵ ֵ 1973 5,170 10,272 50 1974 4,115 8,767 47 1975 3,413 7,941 43 1976 3,503 8,175 43 1977 4,026 8,144 49 1978 4,051 8,426 48 * Under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1967 or the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. † Comprises proceeded against in the courts, cautioned, informal warning, no action taken against suspect, suspect handed over to military authorities (courts martial), suspect referred to local authority or other body, care proceedings. ‡ Offences under the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act 1964, Dangerous Drugs Act 1965 or the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. ֵ Not available.
TABLE 2 PERSONS ARRESTED FOLLOWING STOP AND SEARCH* AND PERSONS ARRESTED FOR DRUGS ACT† OFFENCES Metropolitan Police Number of persons Year Stopped and searched* and subsequently arrested‡ Arrested for Drugs Act†offences Percentage (1) of (2) (1) (2) 1972 2,893 ֵ ֵ 1973 2,918 ֵ ֵ 1974 2,345 ֵ ֵ 1975 2,197 3,787 58 1976 2,385 4,433 54 1977 2,001 4,049 49 1978 2,483 4,865 51 * Under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1967 or the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. † Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. ‡ Not necessarily for drugs offences. ֵ Not available.