Home Office statistics suggest the late 1980’s may be a turning point for both heroin and cocaine use in the UK, though there are fears the drop in heroin statistics may be a temporary lull as hard-hit traffickers re-group. Cocaine…
Tag Archive for offences
Criminal justice – drugs
The costs of tackling drug harms in prisons In April 2025, approximately 40,000 people in prisons in England and Wales (50%) had an identified drug problem. Misuse of illicit drugs by people in prison creates or exacerbates risks to their…
Dealing
Supplying illegal drugs is given harsher penalties under the Misuse of Drugs Act than possession. Usually we think of dealers and pushers’ as seedy and violent people operating on the fringes of society. However, from the legal point of view…
What do drug seizures tell us about availability?
The number of drugs seized and people arrested vary greatly from year to year. This generally reflects the activity of the police and customs, rather than the amount of drugs available. UK statistics in drug seizures made by the police…
How much crime is drug related?
When we think of the links between drugs and crime we usually think about dependent users of drugs like heroin and crack cocaine who commit crimes such as theft, burglary, fraud and shoplifting to get money to buy drugs. However, drugs…
How many drug crimes are committed?
In 2019/20, there were around 175,000 drug offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. This is 13% higher than 2018/19. This House of Commons briefing paper, published in October 2020, provides an extensive overview of statistics relating to…