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Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he estimates to be the value of the (a) domestic and (b)international trade in (i) cannabis, (ii) amphetamines, (iii) LSD, (iv) cocaine, (v) ecstasy, (vi) heroin and (vii) crack in themost recent year for which figures are available. [66663]Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There are no estimates of the value of the United Kingdom (UK) domestic and international trade in the drugsspecified in the question. However, a study by National Economic Research Associates (NERA) produced the following estimates of thevalue of the market in 1998-99 for the following specific drugs: amphetamines £257.7 million; cannabis £1,577.9 million; cocaine£352.8 million; crack £1,817.4 million; ecstasy £294.6 million; and heroin £2,313.0 million. These figures should not be regarded asdefinitive since the purpose of the study "Sizing the UK market for illicit drugs" was to carry out research into differentmethodologies for assessing the size of illicit drug market. Her Majesty's Customs believe the cocaine (and probably ecstasy) figurefrom the NERA study is likely to significantly understate the true position by missing much recreational use. This work was in largepart derived from the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) and therefore reflects drug users who havecome to the attention of the criminal justice system--which is more likely to be the case with heroin or crack users.A United Nations study published in January 1998 reported that estimates of the turnover of the global illicit drug industry variedconsiderably from US$100 billion to US$1,000 billion a year, with the most frequently found figures in the literature in the rangeUS$300 billion to US$500 billion a year. |