§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account he has taken in implementing the Government's anti-drugs strategy of the relationship between drug-related offending by women and the number of women sentenced to imprisonment. [120439]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeIn 1998, 968 females and 9,777 males were given an immediate custodial sentence for drugs offences (Great Britain). Statistics on drug-related offences are not collected by the Home Office, but by a programme of research at Cambridge University on behalf of the Home Office. This involves drug testing of arrestees, and indicates a strong connection between drug misuse, particularly heroin and crack/cocaine, and crime, and suggests that about one third of all property crime is committed in order to buy these drugs. The initial findings also showed that for most drug types, female arrestees were as likely, if not more likely, than males to test positive and that females were significantly more likely than males to test positive for opiates.
406WTwo key objectives of the Government's anti-drugs strategy are to reduce levels of repeat offending among drug misusing offenders and to increase the participation of problem drug misusers, including prisoners, in drug treatment programmes which have a positive impact on health and crime. This relates to men and women, but the strategy recognises that specific support services may be needed for certain groups including women. Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice, Throughcare (CARAT) services, in place in every prison, will be tailored towards the prisoner populations in each establishment. Also, research is to be undertaken to look further into the issue of women and drugs.