§ Mr. John Fraserasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, of the stops of vehicles and persons which took place in Lambeth police division in 1983, how many stops were on suspicion of misuse of drugs and how many consequent arrests were for the misuse of drugs.
§ Mr. HurdI understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the available information for the Lambeth police district in 1983 shows 2,600 stops under section 23(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and 700 resultant arrests for drugs or other offences following these stops. Figures are not collected centrally separating those arrests for misuse of drugs from those for other offences. The figures are rounded because they are based on information recorded in station registers for operational purposes which is unsuitable for the preparation of statistical summaries.