How many people are convicted of drug offences?

In 1997 just over 26,00 people were found guilty in a court or given a caution for a drug offence in the UK...

...This figure has risen sharply each year and reached over 127,100 people in 1997.

Of the 1998 figure over 78,000 people were sentenced in court and almost 60,000 were given a caution.

Offences committed in 1998 were:

Offence	Number of people
Possession of cannabis	89,129
Possession of other drugs	32,799
Possession with intent to supply drugs	9,290
Unlawful supply of drugs	6,974
Unlawful production of cannabis	3,190
Unlawful import or export of drugs	1,152
Other offences	1,272
Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes	825
Unlawful production of drugs other than cannabis	317
Total	127,919

Of these people 89 per cent were male and 11 per cent were female. 6 per cent were under 17 years old, 28 per cent were 17 to 20, 21 per cent were 21-24, 20 per cent were 25-29 and 25 per cent were aged 30 and over.

Updated July 2004

Related Links:

what are the penalties possessing or supplying drugs? The penalties for possession and supply depend on the class the drug belongs to...

what are the UK drug laws? There are two main statutes regulating the availability of drugs in the UK: the Misuse of Drugs Act, and the Medicines Act.