Just 1% of people caught with illegal drugs are being sent to prison
FEARS are mounting that drugs are being legalised “by the back door” — because hardly anyone is jailed for having them
GETTY
SHOCKING: Police made 461,000 arrests for possession of illegal drugs over the last four yearsFewer then 1% of people caught with illegal drugs have been caged for their crimes, research shows.
The latest figures reveal that in the last four years, police made 461,000 arrests for possession of illegal drugs. But just 4,374 were handed a jail term for their crime. That means 0.94% were caged when the maximum jail term for possession of class A drugs is seven years.
GETTY
WEIRD: Only 4,374 received jail sentences for possession, which equates to just 0.94%
“For every 1,000 people convicted or cautioned for cannabis possession, 988 avoid prison” Peter Cuthbertson
Only 1,440 people caught smoking or carrying cannabis were jailed while 325,000 were let off with a slap on the wrist.
Peter Cuthbertson, founder of the Centre for Crime Prevention, warned that the justice system is turning a blind eye. He said: “For every 1,000 people convicted or cautioned for cannabis possession, 988 avoid prison. For complete story go to OffTheChain