Tuesday, March 2, 2004

Spotlight: Drug offences

Marijuana drives drug crime to 20-year high

Canada’s drug crime rate has hit a 20-year high, driven largely by a surge in the rate of possession of marijuana during the past 10 years.

According to police-reported statistics, marijuana offences soared 81% between 1992 and 2002. This growth was driven largely by possession offences, which almost doubled during the same period.

Police laid 92,590 drug charges in 2002.  Three out of every four involvedmarijuana, most of which were for simple possession.  In comparison, 13% of drug-related offences involved cocaine, and only 1% involved heroin.

The remaining 10% of offences involved other types of drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and barbiturates, among others.

The overall rate of police-reported drug offences rose 42% between 1992 and 2002. During the same period, the rate for marijuana offences increased at more than twice that pace. Cocaine rates declined 12% and heroin rates fell 28%.

In terms of trafficking offences specifically, police statistics show that between 1992 and 2002, the overall rate fell 13%. Only the rate of trafficking in marijuana increased during the 10-year period. Rates of trafficking in heroin and cocaine both fell.

Similarly, police-reported rates of offences involving importing and producing are relatively low. But they have more than doubled since the early 1990s. This growth was again largely the result of the rate of importing or growing marijuana which more than doubled between 1992 and 2002.

Among age groups, rates for both possessing and trafficking in marijuana were highest among young adults aged 18 to 24, followed by youth aged 12 to 17. Cocaine violations were also most common among those aged 18 to 24.

Police estimate that annual production of marijuana in Canada has reached 800 tonnes. RCMP report that more than one million plants have been seized in Canada each year during the past four years. It is estimated that between 65% and 98% of marijuana production in Canada is related to organized crime.

Drug-related homicides

Between 1992 and 2002, about one out of every 10 homicides, some 684, were drug-related. Cocaine was involved in 60% of these incidents, and marijuana in 20%. About one-quarter of these homicides were also gang-related.

Of the drug-related homicides, 19% occurred in Vancouver, 18% in Montreal and 12% in Toronto. Slightly over one-half of all homicides involving heroin, and more than one-fifth of cocaine-related homicides, occurred in Vancouver.

Among provinces, the highest rates for drug offences overall were reported in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. The highest rates among census metropolitan areas were in Thunder Bay, Vancouver and Victoria.

The report Juristat: Trends in drug offences and the role of alcohol and drugs in crime, vol. 24, no. 1, is now available.

For more information, contact Information and Client Serves (613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.