§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what recent discussions he has had with medical professionals about the possible dangers of taking cannabis; what their advice on the matter was; and if he will make a statement; [61945]
(2) what recent discussions he has had with chief police officers about the level of drug-motivated crime being committed; and if he will make a statement; [61947]
(3) what recent discussions he has had with the Crown Prosecution Service about the prosecuting of people found in possession of cannabis; what form the discussions took; and if he will make a statement: [61943]
(4) what recent discussions he has had with chief police officers about the arresting of people found in possession of cannabis; what form those discussions took; and if he will make a statement; [61944]
(5) if he will estimate how much crime is committed, motivated by (a) cannabis and (b) other illegal drugs; and if he will make a statement. [61946]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe problem of drug misuse and the amount of crime associated with it, such as crime committed to help fund a drug habit or organised crime involving the supply of illicit drugs motivated by financial gain, are central to the Government's drugs and crime reduction strategies. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and other Home Office Ministers have regular and frequent discussions with chief police officers on these and related matters.
Additionally, representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers and officials from the Crown Prosecution Service are regularly involved in discussions with Home Office officials on these and related issues, such as arrest referral and offences of cannabis possession.
Regarding levels of crime motivated by cannabis, Home Office Research Study 205 "Drugs and Crime: The results of the second developmental stage of the NEW-ADAM programme" by Bennett, T. (2000), copies of which are in the Library, states that there is some suggestion that, for offenders in general, cannabis use is associated with a slight inflation of criminal involvement. However, for offenders who use heroin and crack/cocaine, whether or not they also use cannabis makes little difference to their considerably higher level of offending. Regarding levels of crime motivated by all illegal drugs, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 22 May 2002, Official Report, column 450W.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has met Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, the Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to consider the possible dangers of taking cannabis and related issues relevant to the drug's classification under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The advice he received is contained in the Advisory Council's report, "The classification of 841W cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971", which was published on 14 March 2002, copies of which are in the Library.
§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to strengthen sentencing measures in relation to people who deal drugs in close proximity to schools. [62904]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthSevere penalties are already available to the courts for people convicted of supplying drugs. The maximum penalty for supplying class A drugs is life imprisonment, the maximum penalty for supplying class B drugs is 14 years imprisonment and the maximum penalty for supplying class C drugs is five years imprisonment.
It is vitally important to protect young people from the harm that can be caused by drugs. Officials are currently looking into this matter, bearing in mind the discretion that the courts already have to take into account all the circumstances of the offence and the offender, including all aggravating and mitigating factors.
There are no specific proposals at this time.
§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were(a) arrested and (b) successfully prosecuted for drugs-related offences in (i) Telford and (ii) the United Kingdom in 2001–02. [62907]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe available information, relating to persons arrested for offences involving drugs (trafficking, supplying, possession, etc.) and those proceeded against and found guilty of such offences in England and Wales in 2000 is shown in the table.
Statistics for 2001 will be available in the autumn.
Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively.
Persons arrested, proceeded against and convicted of drug offences in 2000 Telford petty sessional area West Mercia Police force area England and Wales Number of persons arrested 1— 1,451 2107,700 Number of persons proceeded against 73 716 51,251 Number of persons convicted 377 660 44,621 1 Not available centrally 2 Estimated 3 May include persons proceeded against in earlier years.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the views of the people of Lambeth and Brixton on the experiment to treat cannabis possession as a non-arrestable offence. [63334]
§ Mr. Bob Ainsworth[holding answer 20 May 2002]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has noted carefully the findings of the report carried out by the Police Foundation on the community's response to the Lambeth cannabis policing experiment. He recognises that while the report records high levels of support for the scheme, for many that support is conditional upon police officers spending more time dealing effectively with serious crime in the borough.