UK Drug Fines Less Than Parking Tickets

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - The average fine for possessing crack cocaine and heroin in the UK has fallen below the cost of a parking ticket, according to the Telegraph .

Fines for drug possession in Britain have fallen sharply over the last 10 years.

In 2007 the average fine for possessing crack cocaine was 38.33 pounds ($63.47), almost half the cost of a standard parking fine or speeding ticket which were 60 pounds ($99.36). In 1997, the fine for possessing the same amount of crack was 180 pounds ($298.07). Fines for possession of heroin (65.83 pounds, $109.01) are less than half of what they were 10 years ago.

"It is deeply disturbing that you can be fined more for a parking ticket than for possession of Class A drugs. What kind of message is the government sending about its priorities, and the blight of drugs in our society?" asked Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve.

Chris Huhne, the liberal democrat's home affairs spokesman doesn't think fining drug users solves the problem.

"Heroin and crack cocaine destroy lives and fines smaller than a parking ticket are no deterrent," Huhne said. "Fining addicts can boomerang because crime is often their primary source of income, and more fines may mean more crime."

Even though the maximum penalty in the UK for possessing class A drugs is seven years in jail, about half of the nearly 25,000 offenders in 2007 only received a caution and were not taken to court.

In the United States, state and federal laws for drug possession differ . State drug laws have profoundly different penalties from federal laws with respect to prison terms and fines for the sale and trafficking of crack cocaine. Fines can range from $2,500 to $1,000,000. Prison terms can range from one year in county jail to life in prison.

In 1986, under newly enacted federal sentencing laws, possession of five or more grams of crack cocaine was punishable by a mandatory prison term of five years. Many state jurisdictions followed this lead making the penalties for possession of small quantities of crack cocaine some of the most punitive in the nation.