Drugs (Hansard, 3 November 1989)

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in each of the last 10 years have been fined for drug-related offences.

§ Mr. John Patten
The information is published in table 1.1 of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 30/89, "Statistics of the Misuse of Drugs: Seizures and Offenders Dealt With, United Kingdom, 1988", a copy of which is in the Library.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted for unlawful possession of(a) cannabis, (b) cocaine, (c) LSD, (d) heroin, and (e) crack for each year from 1979.

§ Mr. John Patten
Information on the number of persons found guilty, cautioned or dealt with by compounding for unlawful possession of cannabis, cocaine, LSD and heroin for each year since 1979 is 367W published in tables S2.29, S2.17, S2.23 and S2.21 respectively of "Statistics of the Misuse of Drugs: Seizures and Offenders Dealt With, United Kingdom, 1988— Supplementary tables", a copy of which is in the Library. Corresponding tables S2.28, S2.16, S2.22 and S2.20 give the number of persons found guilty in 1988. Crack offences are included in those for cocaine.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the numbers of registered addicts in the United Kingdom for each year from 1979.

§ Mr. Waddington
There is no system of registration of addicts. Information on the numbers of addicts notified to the chief medical officer at the Home Office in the years 1979 to 1988 was published in Statistical Bulletin issue 13/89 "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1988", a copy of which is in the Library.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the current street price of crack.

§ Mr. Waddington
Information from the national drugs intelligence unit suggests that the street price of crack is in the region of £20 to £25 for a piece of about 0.2gs.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the levels of addiction of hard drugs in(a) West Germany, (b) France, (c) Netherlands, (d) Switzerland, (e) Spain, (f Italy, (g) Belgium, and (h) the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Waddington
Information about the numbers of drug addicts notified to the Home Office in 1988 was published in Home Office statistical bulletin issue 13/89, "Statistics of Drug Addicts Notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1988," a copy of which is in the Library. In addition, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, in its report "Aids and Drug Misuse part 1," estimated that there might have been between 75,000 and 150,000 misusers of notified drugs in the United Kingdom during 1986, together with as many again (excluding cannabis users) who are using a variety of non-notifiable drugs (such as amphetamines) on an experimental or occasional basis. Comparable information about addiction levels in other European countries is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the numbers of young people aged 16 or under, arrested or cautioned for possession of drugs.

§ Mr. Waddington
The number of persons aged 16 or under dealt with in the United Kingdom in 1988 for unlawful possession of drugs was 831. This includes persons dealt with at court and cautioned, and cases where other action (such as informal warnings and no further action) was taken. There is likely to be under-recording of persons in the last group.

§ Mr. Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the use of the drug ectasy in the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Waddington
MDMA, known as "ecstasy", has been a controlled drug since 1977. Seizures of MDMA368W have increased in recent years but still remain small compared to those of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis. Informaton from the forensic science service indicates that some 90 MDMA seizures were analysed in 1988.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average sentence given for(a) unlawful possession and (b) possession with intent to supply drugs.

§ Mr. Waddington
The information is published in table S2.6 of "Statistics of the Misuse of Drugs: Seizures and Offenders Dealt With, United Kingdom, 1988— Supplementary tables", a copy of which is in the Library.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the weight of the seizures of(a) cannabis, (b) cocaine, (c) LSD, (d) heroin and (e) crack for each year from 1979.

§ Mr. Waddington
The information is published in tables 2.4 and 2.5 of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 30/89, "Statistics of the Misuse of Drugs: Seizures and Offenders Dealt With, United Kingdom, 1988", a copy of which is in the Library. Crack seizures are included in cocaine seizures.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prison suicides, is among those inmates serving sentences for drug-related offences.

§ Mr. Waddington
The table gives the figures for inmates held in prison establishments in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Total suicides¹ Suicides by sentenced inmates¹ Suicides by inmates serving sentences for drug related offences¹

1984 23 11 1

1985 23 9 —

1986 17 5 —

1987 42 14 2

1988 30 11 2

1989 ²20 ²12 ²1

¹ The table gives the number of deaths for which suicide verdicts were returned at the inquest.

² Inquests have yet to be held on 13 other inmates who have died in 1989 and whose deaths are thought to have been suicides. Of these two were serving sentences for drug related offences.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the gaol population of the United Kingdom is in detention for(a) drug and (b) cannabis-related offences.

§ Mr. Waddington
The latest readily available information was published in table 1(b) of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1988" (Cm 825), a copy of which is in the Library.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to seek powers for the police to be able to apply for a court order to allow them access to information about a suspected drug dealer's tax affairs.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
No. Courts already have powers under sections 27 and 30 of the Drug Trafficking Offences 369W Act 1986 to make an order authorising the police to gain access to information about the tax affairs of any person who is suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is able to estimate per year(a) the approximate levels of consumption in the United Kingdom of cannabis, cocaine, LSD, heroin and crack and (b) the total value of each of these drugs.

§ Mr. Waddington
No. But information on seizures of these drugs is published annually by the Home Office.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is able to estimate the number of police officers in the United Kingdom who are solely engaged in combating crime from drug-related offences.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
We estimate that by the end of 1988 a total of 1,323 police officers were solely engaged in the investigation of drug-related offences at force and regional level in England and Wales. Twenty posts from the 1989–90 manpower programme have been allocated to regional crime squad drugs wings.
In addition, very many police officers at force and crime squad level will contribute to the prevention and investigation of drug-related offences in the course of their duties.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is able to give an estimation of the cost per year of prosecuting and convicting individuals accused of drug-related offences.

§ Mr. Waddington
No. But information on persons dealt with for drug offences is published annually by the Home Office.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is considering the greater use of confiscation orders for drug trafficking convictions.

§ Mr. John Patten
The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 already provides that, when a person is convicted of a drug trafficking offence, the court must determine whether he has ever benefited from drug trafficking and, if he has, impose a confiscation order to deprive him of his proceeds.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will undertake a review of the penalties for drug-related offences.

§ Mr. John Patten
No. The courts have adequate powers to deal with drug-related offences. For the production, supply or possession with intent to supply a class A drug the maximum penalty is life imprisonment; for class B drugs, it is 14 years and five years for class C drugs. Sentencing is a matter for the courts and the Court of Appeal has given guidance on sentencing drug offences.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department collects regular information on the street prices of drugs; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Waddington
No. But the national drugs intelligence unit collates information on the approximate street prices provided by police forces for intelligence purposes.

	Total suicides¹	Suicides by sentenced inmates¹	Suicides by inmates serving sentences for drug related offences¹
1984	23	11	1
1985	23	9	—
1986	17	5	—
1987	42	14	2
1988	30	11	2
1989	²20	²12	²1
¹ The table gives the number of deaths for which suicide verdicts were returned at the inquest.
² Inquests have yet to be held on 13 other inmates who have died in 1989 and whose deaths are thought to have been suicides. Of these two were serving sentences for drug related offences.