Cannabis crime accounts for more than half of prosecutions

DEFENDANTS in Staffordshire have been charged with drug-related offences more than 2,000 times over the last three years.

Figures released by Staffordshire Police show that cannabis offences have accounted for more than half of the drug prosecutions in the county since 2016.

People were charged with producing, dealing or possessing the class B drug 1,096 times – out of a total of 2,028 drug offences.

Cocaine and heroin offences were the second and third most frequently prosecuted, accounting for 371 and 240 charges respectively. Despite the current monkey dust ‘epidemic’ hitting North Staffordshire, the cathinone has only been mentioned on crime reports in 17 drug prosecutions over the three years.

But a force spokesman said: “The class B drug known locally as monkey dust causes considerable demand to Staffordshire Police through the level of resource needed per incident, as opposed to the number of incidents faced.

“The drug is incredibly unpredictable and longlasting, often resulting in emergency services having to use a lot of resources to resolve the incident and working with partners to treat those who are affected.

“An investigative strategy is in place and we are making positive progress with investigations into the supply of the drug in the local area.

“However other Class B drugs, like cannabis, are more prevalent and there are more instances of people cultivating drugs like cannabis.”

The number of prosecutions and cautions for cannabis possession has been falling in Staffordshire and across the country in recent years.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show the total prosecutions fell from 18,661 in 2015 to 15,120 in 2017.

More police resources are being directed at Staffordshire’s monkey dust problem.

Staffordshire Police says it was dealing with around 10 monkey dust calls a day over the summer, while a judge labelled Stoke-on-trent the ‘capital of monkey dust.’