Drug offences (police-recorded) during the Conservative 2015–2017 government
Year ending March 2015 → Year ending March 2017 · 2 periods
↓ 18.4%−31,466 offences
Drug offences (police-recorded) fell by 18.4% over the period, from 170,689 offences (Year ending March 2015, the level when the government took office) to 139,223 (Year ending March 2017, the last complete period before it left office).
Inherited level Year ending March 2015: 170,689
Level when it left Year ending March 2017: 139,223
method: latest complete period before start / before end
Changes during this period do not by themselves show what the government caused. Statistics reflect many influences, including earlier decisions, the economy and how the data is collected.
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value
Definition and caveats
Police-recorded drug possession and trafficking offences in England and Wales in a 12-month period.
Doesn’t measure: The level of drug use or supply; these offences are mostly found through police activity such as stop and search, so the figure reflects police effort as much as underlying activity.