DRUG-DEALING CONVICTIONS UP BUT LESS SERVE TIME IN JAIL

THE number of drug dealers receiving prison sentences has dropped to
less than half in the past 20 years.

In the period 1985 to 1986, some 244 people were convicted of
supplying illegal drugs, 72 per cent of whom received prison
sentences. But in the period 2005-6, some 1,536 people were convicted
of the same offence but just 46 per cent were jailed.

The figures, released by the Executive, follow the revelation
yesterday that 421 people were killed by illegal drugs last year in
Scotland, the highest total since records began.

Jamie Hepburn, the Scottish National Party MSP for Central Scotland,
who obtained the figures through a parliamentary question, said: "I
think most people would be alarmed that less than half of those
people being convicted with supplying drugs are going to jail.

"There are record numbers of people in Scotland's prisons at the
moment and yet we're seeing such a low number of prison sentences for
convicted drug dealers."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "While sentencing is a
matter for the courts, we also want to see greater consistency and
transparency in those decisions as public confidence is a crucial
part of any well-functioning and effective criminal justice system."