In response to a request from the Court of Appeal, The Sentencing Advisory Panel has today published a proposal that the Court should frame a sentencing guideline on the importation and possession of opium.

The Panel's advice is that a sentencing guideline for the importation or possession of opium should be based on weight, cross-checked with street value to ensure that at least an approximate equivalence with heroin and cocaine is maintained. For importation of opium, the appropriate guideline would be:

• 14 years and upwards for a consignment of 40 kilos or more of opium; and
• 10 years and upwards for a consignment of 4 kilos or more of opium.

The Panel's aim is to ensure that offences involving opium, which are relatively rare, are sentenced fairly in comparison with those involving more common Class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

Notes for editors

1. The Sentencing Advisory Panel is an independent advisory and consultative body constituted under sections 80 and 81 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It started work on 1 July 1999. Its function is to provide fully researched, objective advice to the Court of Appeal to assist the Court when it frames or revises sentencing guidelines. (See Home Office news release 193/99.)

2. The Court of Appeal issues sentencing guidelines for the criminal courts. The Crime and Disorder Act placed a new duty on the Court to consider framing or revising guidelines whenever it is considering an appeal against sentence.

3. Under the 1998 Act the Panel may propose to the Court of Appeal that guidelines should be framed or revised for a particular category of offences, either on its own initiative, in response to a request from the Court of Appeal, or at the direction of the Home Secretary. On 4 January 2000, the Court of Appeal notified the Panel of its intention to frame a sentencing guideline on the importation and possession of opium, and asked for the Panel's advice. The Panel issued a consultation paper on this topic on 18 February. (See Press Notice SAP2/00.)

4. Opium is classified, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, as a Class A drug. The current sentencing guidelines on the importation of Class A drugs indicate that a sentence of 14 years and upwards would be appropriate for an offence involving 5 kilos or more of heroin or cocaine at 100% purity, or 250,000 squares or dosage units of LSD, or 50,000 or more tablets of Ecstasy. A sentence of 10 years and upwards would be appropriate for 500g or more of heroin or cocaine at 100% purity, or 25,000 or more squares or dosage units of LSD, or 5,000 or more tablets of Ecstasy.

5. Copies of the proposal may be obtained from: Gareth Sweny, Sentencing Advisory Panel, Room 4.71, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AT (telephone 020 7273 3046). The proposal is also available on the Panel's website: http://www.sentencing-advisory-panel.gov.uk/