(Commercial Cannabis Cultivation Offenses in the UK, Trends and Demographic Data) "The 2010 National Profile reported 6,866 offences of commercial cultivation in 2009/10, increasing by 15 per cent over the following two years.³ Based on those forces that provided three years’ data for this profile, there was a 3.7 per cent reduction between 2011/12 and 2012/13 and a 5.6 per cent reduction between 2012/13 and 2013/14. These figures equate to an annual average of five offences recorded per 100,000 population.

(Estimated Number of Problem Drug Users in the UK, 2011) "Latest national and regional estimates for England are for 2009/10 for opiate and/or crack cocaine use, with separate estimates available for opiate use, crack cocaine use, and injecting drug use. In Scotland, the latest national and regional estimates for problematic opiate and/or benzodiazepine use are also for 2009/10 and were published in 2011. Drug injecting estimates for Scotland are available for 2006.

(Price and Purity of Heroin in the UK, 2011) "Data show that there was a large decrease in the average purity of heroin in 2011 (Table 10.8). This follows reports of a reduction in the availability of heroin from late 2010 both within the international supply chain and within the UK. Indeed, the number of seizures the purity data in Table 10.8 is based on decreased by almost one-third in 2011 and seizures data also show a decrease in the quantity of heroin seized in 2010/11 (see section 10.3.2).

(Prison Sentences 1994 and 2005) "The use of custodial sentences for drug offenders increased substantially between 1994 and 2005. The annual number of people imprisoned rose by 111% and the average length of their sentences increased by 29%. Taking into account the rise in the average sentence length (37 months for drug dealing in 2004), the courts handed out nearly three times as much prison time in 2004 as they did 10 years earlier."

(Diverting Offenders to Treatment in England) "In England the Department of Health, the Ministry of Justice, HM Court Services, the National Offender Management Service and the Home Office are working together to take forward government proposals to invest in liaison and diversion services at police stations and courts to ensure that an individual’s health needs or vulnerabilities are identified and assessed early and that they are linked to appropriate treatment services.

Laws and Policies

(Recommendation of British Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs) "Recommendation 1. Local service planners need to review local needle and syringe services (and be supported in this work) in order to take steps to increase access and availability to sterile injecting equipment and to increase the proportion of injectors who receive 100 per cent coverage of sterile injecting equipment in relation to their injecting frequency."

(Estimated Prevalence of Crack Use in England) "Among the general population, use of powder cocaine is far more common than use of crack cocaine. Although crack cocaine use is relatively rare, it is associated with very problematic use and drug-related crime, predominantly among those also using opioids. Due to the often chaotic nature of users’ lives, it is likely that household surveys underestimate crack use.