§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are held in prisons in England and Wales for cannabis-related offences; and how many people were received into prisons in England and Wales in 2001 for cannabis-related offences. [83678]
§ Hilary BennData on the number of people sentenced to immediate custody for drug offences involving cannabis are shown in the table.
111W
Number of persons sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for cannabis offences which can be separately identified, England and Wales 1996 to 20001 Sentenced to immediate custody Offence description Statute 1996 1997 1998 1999 20002 Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug (cannabis) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, sections 4(2) and 6(2) 178 233 216 206 156 Supplying or offering (or being concerned in) to supply a controlled drug (cannabis) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, sections 4(3) 628 650 656 573 405 Having possession of a controlled drug (cannabis) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 5(2), as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 157, schedule 8, part II 204 268 410 451 361 Having possession of a controlled drug (cannabis) with intent to supply Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. section 5(3) 983 1,129 1,284 1,112 808 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes (cannabis) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 8 17 18 27 25 9 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Staffordshire Police Force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.