HC Deb 15 November 2000 vol 356 c703W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 25 October 2000,Official Report, column 430W, how many of those convicted in England and Wales in (a) 1997 and (b) 1998 for possession of cannabis have been convicted again since then. [137999]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Data are available on a sample of 1,324 offenders convicted of possession of cannabis in 1998. The following table shows whether these offenders have been reconvicted of any recordable offence at any time. For those offenders originally convicted in the first half of 1998, the table also presents whether they have been reconvicted of any recordable offence within two years of the original offence. A distinction is made between offences where possession of cannabis was the principal original offence, and where it was a secondary offence.

Reconviction of sampled offenders convicted of possession of cannabis in 1998
Measure—whether cannabis possession was original principal offence Percentage reconvicted1
Ever reconvicted
Principal offence 49.3 (819)
Non-principal offence 56.6 (505)
All offences 53.0 (1,324)
Reconvicted within two years
Principal offence 47.5 (402)
Non-principal offence 51.2 (244)
All offences 48.9 (646)
1Total number in sample

Reconvictions are counted only for offences committed after the original conviction. No comparable figures are available for 1997.