§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of annual cost of imprisoning cannabis offenders in each of the past four years for which figures are available. [86949]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe cost of imprisonment for cannabis offenders is not calculated separately from other offenders. The information in the table gives an average cost per place for all prisoners. Cost per place for 1998–99 is provisional and subject to validation by prisons.
106W
Average cost per place for prisoners Financial year Cost per place (£ cash terms) Cost per place (1992–93 prices) 1995–96 24,178 22,562 1996–97 24,271 21,975 1997–98 23,940 21,152 1998–99 25,096 21,633
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the report on the experiments on the efficacy of medicinal cannabis to be published. [86945]
§ Mr. George HowarthInformation from G W Pharmaceuticals Ltd., the company licensed to conduct cannabis medical research, indicates that clinical trials are scheduled to start in mid-July. These are likely to continue for one or two years. Publication of results is a matter for the research community.