§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the per capita level of expenditure on drug-related law enforcement in the (i) UK, (ii) Netherlands and (iii) USA in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [147752]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkePrecise data on expenditure on drug-related law enforcement are not available. The launch of the Government's drugs strategy, "Tackling Drags to Build a Better Britain" (Cm 3945) in April 1998 included the estimate that total Government expenditure for 1997–98 was in the region of £1.4 billion. Of this, 62 per cent. was estimated to be spent on drug-related law enforcement.
Comparable information relating to the Netherlands and the USA cannot be provided.
§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were(a) arrested and (b) imprisoned on charges related to cannabis in the (i) UK, (ii) Netherlands and (iii) USA in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [147751]
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§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe requested information is not available centrally.
Information is not collected centrally on arrests either for drug-related offences or for drug offences such as unlawful possession. Similarly, the number of people actually received into prison on such charges is not collected centrally. The closest information collected on this topic is the number of offenders given sentences of immediate custody by the courts. The latest figure available is for 1998–5,398. Further details are given in Table S2.28 of the Supplementary Tables volume of the Home Office bulletin "Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom, 1998" a copy of which is in the Library.
Comparable information relating to the Netherlands and the USA cannot be provided.