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Drugs: Crime

Answer

The latest available data on drug seizures is for 2004 and can be found in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series "Seizures of Drugs, England and Wales 2004". The quantities seized by the police in England and Wales, for 1997 and 2004, for each drug are shown in the table attached.The quantities of LSD and ecstasy-type drugs (including MDMA) seized have been listed in thousands of doses seized rather than as a weight. In 2004 the seized LSD quantity was published in number of doses; this answer gives seized LSD quantities in thousands of doses.Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and HM Revenue and Customs. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Table S3 Quantity of seizures of Class A, B and C drugs made by police¹ by drug type and year, England and Wales, 1997 and 2004
	Quantity² of seizures
Drug type	1997	2004
Class A
Cocaine	270	1,270
Crack	30	130
Heroin	420	1,130
LSD²	40	6³
Ecstasy-type²	360	1,680
Methadone	110	60
Morphine	0	0
Other Class A	0	10
Class B
Amphetamines	570	930
Barbiturates	—	—
Cannabis (herbal)4	8,180	*
Cannabis plants ², 4	77,570	*
Cannabis resin 4	60,790	*
Other Class B	0	—
Class C
Benzodiazepines	0	0
Cannabis (herbal) )	*	2,790
Cannabis plants², 4	*	88,670
Cannabis resin4	*	21,680
Temazepam	0	—
Anabolic steroids	10	0
GHB	*	0
Other Class C	0	0
¹ Seizures from joint operations involving HM Revenue and Customs and the police are generally recorded against HM Revenue and Customs. ² Drugs are seized in a variety of forms but where possible, for the purpose of this table, amounts have been converted to weights (kg), except for seizures of LSD and Ecstasy-type which are given in thousands of doses. Cannabis plants are given in thousands of plants. Seizures of unspecified quantities are not included. ³ Published as 6190 doses 4 From January 2004,Cannabis was reclassified from a class B to a class C drug. Notes: 1. MDMA prior to 1996. 2. Seizures from joint operations involving HM Revenue and Customs and the police are generally recorded against HM Revenue and Customs.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

152183; 463 c1172-3W

Session

2006-07

Subjects

Drug seizures

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk