This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Figures on drug seizures and drug offenders
14/09/2005
Summary Home Office statistics for 2003 on drug seizures and known drug offenders in Scotland in 2003 are released today. Some of the key points to emerge from the data are listed below.
Drug Seizures
- The total number of drug seizures in Scotland was 22,400 in 2003, an increase of eight per cent compared with the 2002 figure of 20,700.
- The number of seizures of Class A drugs in Scotland fell by four per cent in 2003, while the number of seizures of Class B drugs rose by 12 per cent and the number of seizures of Class C drugs fell by 11 per cent.
- Almost four-fifths (79 per cent) of the drug seizures in Scotland in 2003 were of cannabis. Just over 4,300 seizures (19 per cent of the total) involved Class A drugs.
Drug offenders by type of drug in 2003
- In 2003 the total number of drug offences in Scotland recorded as being dealt with was just over 11,000. Most (88 per cent) of these offences involved males and 30 per cent persons aged under 21.
- In total, 5,800 persons were recorded in the Home Office data as being found guilty, cautioned or given a fiscal fine for drug offences in 2003, of which 86 per cent had committed possession offences. Sixty-one per cent had committed cannabis possession offences, 12 per cent for heroin possession offences and four per cent cocaine possession offences. Cannabis dealing accounted for six per cent of all drug offenders, while the corresponding proportions for heroin and cocaine were five per cent and one per cent respectively.
- Dealing offences were much more likely to attract custodial sentences than possession offences, 49 per cent compared with two per cent. Moreover, dealing in Class A drugs was more likely to attract a custodial sentence than dealing in Class B drugs: around two-thirds of heroin and cocaine dealing offenders received a custodial sentence compared with around a third of cannabis dealing offenders.
- The average length of custodial sentence imposed for offenders involved in heroin offences was 34 months, compared with 28 months for cocaine and 22 months for cannabis. The average fine imposed for offenders involved in heroin offences was £193, compared with £211 for cocaine and £106 for cannabis.
- Possession offences tend to be committed by younger people (52 per cent committed by those under the age of 25), with dealing offences committed by slightly older people (53 per cent committed by those under the age of 30).
Trends in convictions for drug offences 1994-2003
The general profile of drug offenders recorded in the Home Office data on drug offenders in 2003 is broadly similar to those recorded for previous years. However, there is known to be a shortfall in the overall coverage of the Home Office data on drug offenders, particularly for the years 1996, 1997, and 2001-2003. Separate statistics on convictions in Scottish courts for drug offences are available from the SEJD court proceedings database. While this latter source does not currently hold information on the type of drug involved in these convictions, and also does not cover fiscal fines, it is a more reliable indicator of trends over time, as summarised in the key points below.
- In 2003, a total of 7,100 persons were convicted in Scottish courts where a drugs offence was the main charge involved. This represented an increase of 22 per cent on 2002 and was the highest annual total recorded in the period since 1994.
- Just over three-quarters (77 per cent) of the convictions in 2003 related to possession offences while 22 per cent related to dealing offences, very similar to the proportions in previous years.
- Custodial sentences were much more common for dealing offences (53 per cent in 2003) than possession offences (3 per cent in 2003). These were similar proportions to those recorded in the previous nine years.
- The average length of custodial sentence imposed in convictions where a dealing offence was the main offence was a little over two years in 2003; this average varied between 21 and 26 months in the period 1994-2003. For convictions where possession was the main offence involved, the average length of custodial sentence imposed was just under five months, a little higher than the average of three-four month recorded in the period 1994-2002.
The detailed summary tables of the Home Office's 2003 statistics on drug offenders and drug seizures for Scotland can be viewed on the Drug Misuse Information Scotland website maintained by the Information Services Division of NHS in Scotland via the following link:
http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/ho_drugoffsez03.htm
The statistics are based on returns made to the Home Office by Scottish police forces, HM Customs & Excise and other agencies. Although care is taken in completing and analysing these returns, the figures are of necessity subject to the inaccuracies on any large-scale recording system. There is also known to be a shortfall in the coverage of the Home Office data on drug offenders for some years, particularly 1996, 1997, and 2001-2003. Caution should therefore be exercised when interpreting this data.
The statistics reported on drug offenders cover those dealt with by court proceedings, fiscal fines or HM Customs and Excise compounding (where payment is made of a compound settlement in lieu of prosecution for minor personal use cannabis offences) for drug offences. As one offender can commit multiple offences, figures for individual drugs or types of offence cannot be added together to produce totals. Similarly one seizure can involve more than one type of drug.
Drugs are divided into three classes (A, B and C) according to their harmfulness. Cannabis was reclassified from a Class B to a Class C drug in January 2004. The effects of this change will be reported with the 2004 data.
The Home Office previously published UK-wide drug seizure and offender statistics in an annual statistical bulletin. However, following recommendations in the National Statistics Quality Report No. 29 Review of Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics (Home Office, 10 March 2004) the Home Office now publishes statistics for England & Wales only. The 2003 figures were published in March 2005 (drug offenders - HO Findings 256) and August 2005 (drug seizures - HO Findings 265); these can be accessed via the following link:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/rfpubs1.html