Arrests and convictions for illegal drugs (FOI)

Request

A

Please could you provide the figures for how many people have been arrested for the possession of a small amount of any Class B and C drugs in past five years (broken down by year, age group and specific drugs)? ‘Small amount’ refers to less than 15 grams, or that of personal use.

B

How many of these each year involved cannabis?

C

How many people were convicted in those years for the possession of a small amount of Class B and C drugs (broken down by year, age group and specific drugs)?

D

How many of these each year involved cannabis?

E

How many were given a prison sentence, suspended sentence, community service, fines or word of warning in each of those years?

F

Please can you also provide information as to how many people are currently in prison for the possession of cannabis?

G

How many of those convicted were repeat offenders?

Response

A and B

Arrest data does not provide an accurate picture of the level of drug offending, nor the types of drugs involved. A more accurate picture can be evidenced by an assessment of the number of persons who are categorised as either suspects or offenders. The drug types are recorded in accordance with Home Office counting rules. Table 1 below lists the number of suspects or offenders for illegal possession (personal use) of a controlled drug for the five years up to 14th November 2022.

C to E

Table 2 below shows the number of persons, broken down by age group, who were either convicted in court or sanctioned by a Centenier at a Parish Hall Enquiry (PHE), together with details of the various penalties. Details are accurate up to 14th November 2022. 

F

As of 27th October 2022, there were no individuals serving a prison sentence solely for the offence of being in possession of cannabis.  Prison data shows prisoners currently serving a sentence for drug offences are for Importation, Supply and Intent to Supply.  To determine if any serving prisoner was also given a separate sentence for possession of cannabis would exceed the time limit of 12.5 hours, and Article 16(1) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. 

G

Table 3 below shows the number of repeat offenders. A repeat offender is defined as an individual who has a conviction or parish hall sanction for any previous local drug offence. Details are accurate up to 14th November 2022.

Tables 1 to 3.pdf

Article applied

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

(2) Despite paragraph (1), a scheduled public authority may still supply the information requested on payment to it of a fee determined by the authority in the manner prescribed by Regulations for the purposes of this Article.

(3) Regulations may provide that, in such circumstances as the Regulations prescribe, if two or more requests for information are made to a scheduled public authority –

(a) by one person; or

(b) by different persons who appear to the scheduled public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign, the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them.