§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were made for possession of cannabis; and how many prosecutions followed, in each police force in England, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.[11958]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthArrest data are not collected centrally by individual offence.
Information from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database showing the number of persons proceeded against for the possession of cannabis by police force area in England during the period 1996–2000 is given in the table.
Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for the possession of cannabis by police force area in England 1996–2000 Police force area 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Avon and Somerset 180 149 219 283 340 Bedfordshire 155 274 300 255 223 Cambridgeshire 80 163 172 156 88 Cheshire 384 395 534 578 401 Cleveland 60 85 134 222 221 Cumbria 195 234 267 217 166 Derbyshire 146 173 219 268 222 Devon and Cornwall 330 540 633 555 505 Dorset 123 113 238 308 306 Durham 158 113 114 102 223 Essex 405 501 571 575 617 Gloucestershire 145 160 209 222 199 Greater Manchester 589 614 783 856 918 Hampshire 407 558 813 960 785 Hertfordshire 229 273 244 262 257 Humberside 150 159 230 241 248 Kent 362 565 929 923 774 Lancashire 456 709 929 869 760 Leicestershire 187 262 327 265 239 Lincolnshire 216 325 340 196 183 London, City of 88 75 103 76 26 Merseyside 866 1,064 1,399 1,322 1,022 Metropolitan Police 3,233 4,112 5,452 5.355 4,933 Norfolk 274 329 168 265 245 Northamptonshire 31 3 5 25 113 Northumbria 210 338 717 947 1,007 North Yorkshire 195 256 383 363 165 Nottinghamshire 238 275 258 292 277 South Yorkshire 326 453 521 622 635 Staffordshire1 214 281 314 239 2— Suffolk 177 238 248 244 173 Surrey 152 230 263 329 390 Sussex 338 371 363 341 309 Thames Valley 576 600 765 712 615 Warwickshire 63 77 84 76 77 West Mercia 212 286 329 295 222 West Midlands 556 871 1,325 1,213 1,312 West Yorkshire 908 1,149 1,335 1,142 947 Wiltshire 91 142 178 211 182 England 13,705 17,515 22,415 22,382 20,143 1Estimates made for Staffordshire Police Force, who were only able to submit data for a sample of weeks for year 2000, have been included in the total 2Not available Note:
All data are given on a principal offence basis