§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the total numbers of prisoners who have been found in random tests to have taken(a) cocaine, (b) methadone, (c) amphetamines, (d) benzodiazepines, (e) barbiturates and (f) LSD, since the tests were introduced; what percentage of prisoners had taken the drugs in each case; and what changes have taken place in the proportions of these six categories of drugs. [44345]
§ Mr. George HowarthTable A shows how many samples tested positive for each drug since all prisons began testing in April 1996, and the percentage of all samples tested that represents, calculated to one decimal place. It is not possible to say how many different prisoners tested positive because the data are anonymised when collated centrally.
Tables B and C show the percentage of random samples positive for all drug types tested for in each month of the last two financial years. There has been no significant change in the percentages of samples testing positive for the drug types named in this question.
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Random mandatory drug test samples testing positive by drug type, 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1998 Table A Drug type Number of tests positive Percentage of samples tested positive Cocaine 311 0.3 Methadone 211 0.2 Amphetamines 298 0.3 Benzodiazepines 1,664 1.4 Barbiturates 45 0 LSD 0 0
Monthly percentage of random samples taken testing positive: April 1996—March 1997 Table B Drug group April May June July August September October November December January February March Cannabis 20.9 19.7 18.5 19.3 19.6 19.7 20.2 20.4 20.5 20.8 19.6 19.2 Opiates 5.1 5.1 4.6 6.0 5.9 6.0 5.4 5.6 6.4 5.3 4.4 4.6 Cocaine 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 Benzodiazepines 1.5 2.1 1.9 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.5 1.2 1.4 Methadone 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 Amphetamines 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 Barbiturates 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 LSD 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Monthly percentage of random samples taken testing positive: April 1997—March 1998 Table C Drug group April May June July August September October November December January February March Cannabis 20.3 19.8 17.8 16.6 15.4 15.9 15.8 15.3 16.7 15.8 13.8 15.1 Opiates 4.3 3.8 3.8 4.2 3.7 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.6 4.3 4.3 4.6 Cocaine 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 Benzodiazepines 1.2 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.3 0.8 1.0 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.3 Methadone 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 Amphetamines 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 Barbiturates 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 LSD 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0