To ask the Scottish Executive what the average fine was for possessing (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy, (d) cannabis and (e) amphetamines in the Lothians region in 2009-10, broken down by sheriff court, and what percentage change was from the previous year.

The available information is given in the following table.

Average (Mean) Fine (£) for Possession of Selected Drugs^1,3, by Sheriff Court², 2008-09 and 2009-10

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Including Justice of the Peace courts.

3. The Criminal History System, from which these data are derived, contains an offence modifier code for a crime or offence which provides additional information for the specific incident as opposed to the actual charge. This code has been used here to identify the type of drug involved in drugs possession offences, however it should be noted that only around half the records on the CHS for drugs offences contain details of the drug(s) involved.

4. The 2008-09 data presented above is based on a revised classification system and so differs from information previously provided.