DOPE FIGURES DON'T ADD UP

Who smokes dope, or, more to the point, how many of us smoke dope? The
Government say it is less than half the number who regularly tune into The
Archers, but the IoS has evidence which proves they are well short of the
mark.

Last month, in a private meeting, Brian Iddon, Labour MP for Bolton South
East, put the question to Home Office minister George Howarth.

"The minister told me that 1.5 million people in Britain use cannabis,
which surprised me," said Mr Iddon, who believes cannabis should be
decriminalised.

"I know that many believe the number to be more than twice the Government
estimate. However, I was assured that this was the best and most up-to-date
calculation. The Home Office based this figure on a 1996 survey of 9,000
people from a broad spectrum of social classes," he added.

But a careful review of the official statistics reveals the implausibility
of the Government's estimate. The most recent figures for the amount of
cannabis seized by both the police and customs are 13,871kg (13.6 tons) of
dry plant matter and 44,607kg (43.9 tons) of resin.

The total - 58,478kg - is accepted by customs and police intelligence
sources as representing, on average, 10 per cent of the total amount that
is in circulation.

The police calculate that it is possible to roll four joints from each gram
of cannabis. Therefore, over a full year, 526,302kg of cannabis will be
consumed or 2,105,208,000 (2.1 billion) individual joints.

This, in turn, means that every day, throughout Britain, 5.7 million joints
are lit and that for the Government's estimate to be correct, each of the
country's 1.5 million cannabis smokers would have to puff their way through
27 joints a week, every week of the year.

The correct appraisal of cannabis use is far more complicated than the
Government would have us believe. While it is true that a minority of users
smoke as many as 27 joints a week and more, the vast majority use the drug
intermittently. Many only smoke at weekends, others once a month or less
frequently - no one can tell for certain.

However, the number of individuals who indulge in one smoke or more in the
course of a year in Britain is most likely to be at least three times as
many as the number the Government claims.