Cannabis Arrests 1990-2000

These statistics were obtained by former NORML activist, Nandor Tanczos MP who asked Parliamentary Questions to obtain them.

New Zealand Drug Offences

Year	Other drugs	Cannabis-only
1998	1583 (5.9 %)	25309 (94.1 %)
1999	1640 (6.2 %)	24687 (93.8 %)
2000	2070 (8.4 %)	22660 (91.6 %)
2001	2212 (8.9 %)	22740 (91.1 %)
2002	2841 (11.9 %)	21034 (88.1 %)
Source: Police Crime statistics

In the 2000 calendar year:

4550 people were arrested for possession or use of cannabis and 3503 were convicted.

The average sentence was a fine of $195.11. The highest average fine was $277.61 in Auckland’s North Shore, while those in Levin received a $145 fine on average.

1145 people were prosecuted for cannabis possession in just the Auckland District Court.

3695 people were arrested for dealing in cannabis and 3003 people were convicted.

The average sentence was a fine of $445.09 and 14 months in prison. In Manukau the average fine was $1145.45, while in Te Kuiti it was just $204.

2109 people were arrested for other cannabis offences (usually possession of a pipe or allowing premises or cars to be used) and 1450 people were convicted.

The average sentence was a fine of $198.02. The highest average fine was $342.86 in Otahuhu while those toking in Tokoroa received just $120 on average.

During 1998/99 Police spent approximately 74,658 hours dealing with incidents surrounding the possession of cannabis (a Police hour is costed at $70).

For the same period there were 12,009 recorded offences of cannabis possession.

A total of 298,000 hours - or $21 million - were spent by Police enforcing the cannabis laws.

Drug offenders fill 8% of our prison beds.

Sources: Answers to Parliamentary Questions 5260, 5822, 5823, 5945, 5947, 5948, 5950.

Unless stated otherwise, copyright © 1998-2005 by NORML New Zealand, working for marijuana law reform

Published on: 2003-03-09 (5810 reads)