Methylamphetamine

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many seizures of methylamphetamine have been made by (a) police and (b) HM Customs, in the last 10 years; and what was the total quantity seized. [79902]  

Mr. George Howarth: Figures for the number of seizures of methylamphetamine made by the police and Customs and submitted to the Forensic Science Service for analysis between 1995 and 1998 are given in the table. It should be noted that full information is not available for 1996 and 1997. Equivalent figures for earlier years (21 Apr 1999 : Column: 580) can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Not all seizures of controlled drugs are necessarily submitted for analysis. Details of all seizures, whether analysed or not, can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

 

Until late 1997, methylamphetamine represented less than 0.1 per cent. of all amphetamine cases in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the amounts seized (mostly white powders) were generally small with typical purities of less than 10 per cent. The weight of tablets varies but is typically in the range 250-300 milligrams and perhaps has a drug content of 5 per cent.

 

Use of this substance is very rare in Europe but is more prevalent in the United States of America and Japan.

Seizures of methylamphetamine submitted to the Forensic Science Service for analysis by police and Customs 1995-98
Police					Customs
Year	No. of seizures	Quantity seized	Year			No. of seizures	Quantity seized
1995	12	309 grams, 1 tablet	1995			Not available	Not available
1996	7	23 grams, 25 tablets	1996			1 (Jul-Dec only)	0.96 grams
1997	34 (Apr-Dec only)	Less than 7 grams, 743 tablets	1997			0	0
1998	81	7.75 grams, 4,955 tablets (inc. 1x seizure of 3,000 tablets & 1x 400 tablets)	1998			2	19.24 grams

Source: Forensic Science Service

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