Drug seizures and offender characteristics: 2017-2018

Key Points

• The quantity of drugs seized can fluctuate considerably each year and does not necessarily move in line with the number of seizures made. Whilst most drug seizures consist of relatively small quantities (usually possession-related crimes), annual quantities of drugs seized can be greatly influenced by a small number of large seizures (usually from supply-related crimes).
• For crimes of drug supply, the main Class A drugs seized by Police Scotland in 2017-18 were heroin (118.6 kilograms), cocaine (74.4 kilograms) and crack cocaine (6.7 kilograms). Police Scotland also seized approximately 25,400 ecstasy-type tablets.
• Again for crimes of drug supply, the main Class B drugs seized by Police Scotland in 2017-18 were cannabis resin (625.0 kilograms) and herbal cannabis (553.4 kilograms). They also seized over 16,000 cannabis plants. For Class C drugs, the main drugs seized were 321,000 diazepam or other benzodiazepine tablets (excluding etizolam) and 264,000 etizolam tablets.
• A sample of drug possession crime for 2017-18 estimated that 54% of drug possession crimes involved herbal cannabis or cannabis resin, with 10% for cocaine, 9% for heroin and 6% each for diazepam and etizolam.
• In 2017-18, the vast majority of drug possession offenders were male (86%). The median age of an offender was 30 years old, with almost two thirds (64%) being aged between 20 and 39 years old.

Infographic:

Infographic text:

Drug possession crime in Scotland, 2017-18 

The graphic above outlines some characteristics of drug possession crimes in 2017-18: 

86% of offenders were male. The median age of offender was 30 years old. 
40% of drugs seized were herbal cannabis, 14% were cannabis resin, 10% were cocaine, 9% were heroin, 6% were diazepam and 6% were etizolam. 
49% of drugs were seized in the street or other open space, whilst 24% were seized in a house or garden. 

Other features of the police records were as follows:

47% of records have additional crimes recorded; 
31% of records mentioned that someone was under the influence of drugs or alcohol; and 
7% of records mention NHS involvement.