NCJ Number
160874
Date Published
1995
Length
52 pages
Annotation
This bulletin presents statistics on two aspects of the misuse of drugs controlled under Great Britain's Misuse of Drugs Act 1971: seizures of controlled drugs and persons dealt with for offenses that involved controlled drugs; data are for 1994 and, where possible, for the previous 10 years.
Abstract
The number of seizures of drugs rose by 23 percent to 108,000, the highest figure ever recorded and the highest rate of increase for 5 years; cannabis was involved in 82 percent of seizures. The number of seizures that involved heroin rose by 22 percent, but those of cocaine only slightly; however, large seizures of cocaine by Customs brought the amount seized back to the 1992 level. Seizures that involved amphetamines and cannabis increased 11 and 27 percent respectively. Seizures that involved LSD fell, but those that involved MDMA increased by 50 percent. Drug offenders increased by 25 percent to 87,000 in 1994. Approximately 90 percent were possession cases, usually cannabis; drug trafficking cases increased by 8 percent to 11,200. The use of cautioning for offenders was similar to last year; just over half were cautioned, under 25 percent were fined, and 7 percent were sentenced to immediate custody, in each case a proportion similar to 1993. Up until 1992 the use of cautioning was increasing at about 6 percent per year. The number of confiscation orders increased by 27 percent to 1,250, and the amount forfeited increased 160 percent to 25.4 million pounds. 20 tables and 15 figures