§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were(a) arrested and charged with and (b) convicted of cannabis possession in (i) the Thames Valley police authority area and (ii) every other police authority area in each of the last four years. [11875]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthArrest data are not collected centrally by individual offence.
Information from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database showing the number of persons convicted of the possession of cannabis by police force area during the period 1997–2000 is given in the table.
Number of persons convicted at all courts for the possession of cannabis by police force area in England and Wales 1997–2000 Police force area 1997 1998 1999 2000 Avon and Somerset 140 201 260 311 Bedfordshire 227 290 248 212 Cambridgeshire 154 152 147 88 Cheshire 375 505 537 374 Cleveland 79 123 205 221 Cumbria 211 243 199 161 Derbyshire 167 204 248 206 Devon and Cornwall 492 587 517 479 Dorset 105 222 286 281 Durham 97 102 100 212 Essex 465 538 559 567 Gloucestershire 143 191 201 172 Greater Manchester 594 728 808 895 Hampshire 530 770 917 738 Hertfordshire 253 228 236 233 Humberside 146 213 226 232 Kent 542 873 873 720 Lancashire 657 885 814 716 Leicestershire 244 308 245 226 Lincolnshire 292 317 171 162 London, City of 67 89 70 23 Merseyside 999 1,312 1,246 941 Metropolitan police 3,743 5,100 4,974 4,550 Norfolk 318 170 261 237 Northamptonshire 12 11 31 102 Northumbria 314 655 879 925 North Yorkshire 230 371 337 158 Nottinghamshire 244 236 266 260 South Yorkshire 416 474 577 617 Staffordshire1 249 289 221 n/a Suffolk 230 239 234 166 Surrey 208 250 314 358 Sussex 317 330 296 272 Thames Valley 550 683 642 558 Warwickshire 67 76 74 74 West Mercia 261 314 286 218 West Midlands 785 1,212 1,114 1,213 West Yorkshire 940 1,153 1,011 856 Wiltshire 125 169 203 169 Dyfed Powys 302 499 476 368 Gwent 178 262 278 337 North Wales 222 357 355 292 South Wales 585 712 681 692 England and Wales 17,275 22,643 22,623 20,725 n/a =not available 1Estimates made for Staffordshire police force, who were able to submit data for only a sample of weeks for year 2000, have been included only in the total. Note:All data are given on a principal offence basis.
83W
§ Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the effect on the(a) quantity of cannabis consumed in the UK, (b) quantity of tobacco consumed in the UK and (c) number of people in the UK using cannabis that would result from the reclassification of cannabis from a Class B to Class C drug. [11589]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthI do not anticipate that a decision to reclassify cannabis from Class B to Class C under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 would have any effect on the number of people using the drug or the quantity consumed. Cannabis will remain a controlled drug and using it still a criminal offence.