January 28

January 28, 2005: Cannabis Arrests Drop

Arrests for cannabis possession have fallen by one third in the first year since re-classification. The Home Office estimate that this has led to an estimated saving in police time of 199,000 police hours. Figures for reductions in cannabis arrests are estimated from provisional arrest data supplied by 26 of the 42 police forces in England and Wales over the last 12 months.

Cannabis was reclassified on 29 January 2004.The British Crime Survey (BCS) figures just released suggest that there has been no change in the prevalence of cannabis use amongst the general population aged 16-59 (since 1998 the use of cannabis has remained stable). For young people (16-24 year olds), there has been a gradual decrease in the prevalence of cannabis use, which has remained stable in recent years. However, the BCS does not necessarily reach people whose lives are chaotic and hence unlikely to be reached at home.

Cannabis use by young people has remained stable following reclassification, and is significantly down since April 1998 - 28.2 per cent of 16-24 year olds used cannabis then compared to 24.8 per cent now.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for tackling drugs Caroline Flint said:

“The Government’s drugs strategy focuses on tackling the class A drugs which cause the most harm to communities, individuals and their families. A year ago we reclassified cannabis on the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, so that the police could concentrate on the far more destructive class A drugs."

“One year on the picture is encouraging with significant savings in police time which can now be used to drive more serious drugs off our streets and make our communities safer. 155 crack houses were closed by the police between January and September last year and in January we launched a national enforcement campaign, Operation Crackdown, to clamp down further on class A drugs. I am also pleased that figures show that some predictions that cannabis use by young people would increase were wholly unfounded.”

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