Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government produces Official Statistics on Drug Seizures recorded by the police in Scotland. The following table shows the number of cannabis plants seized by Police Scotland for each year since 2013-14. Statistics for 2017-18 will be published in the Spring of 2019.

The information Police Scotland provides to the Scottish Government is based on a single force-wide return, as such a breakdown by local area isn’t held centrally. It should be noted that the quantity of drugs seized can fluctuate considerably each year and can be greatly influenced by a small number of large seizures.

Following a change to the collection process for these statistics, from 2014-15 onwards these figures only relate to cannabis plants seized as part of drug supply crimes. However, it is very rare for a crime of drug possession (i.e. where the quantity of drugs seized was small enough to be considered for personal use) to include any quantity of cannabis plants. As such, the figures provided below from 2014-15 onwards will represent the vast majority of plants seized by Police Scotland.