The Newfoundland & Labrador Public Record

Drugs

Possession, trafficking, and production under the drug laws. Figures below are for 2025.

1,025 Reported to police 186 per 100,000 people
107 Led to a charge 10 in 100 reports
140 People charged 28 per 100,000 aged 12+
16 Finished in court 44 in 100 ended in a guilty finding Court year 2024/2025. A different survey.
Someone charged 107 Solved another way 26 No one charged 892

34 further reports, 3.2 per cent of all reports received, were judged not to have happened. They are not counted above.

1998 to 2025

Counts Per 100,000 people
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,0001998 — Someone charged: 4231998 — Solved another way: 1111998 — No one charged: 2891999 — Someone charged: 4951999 — Solved another way: 1091999 — No one charged: 2722000 — Someone charged: 4992000 — Solved another way: 942000 — No one charged: 3972001 — Someone charged: 4852001 — Solved another way: 942001 — No one charged: 3432002 — Someone charged: 4412002 — Solved another way: 872002 — No one charged: 3732003 — Someone charged: 3632003 — Solved another way: 1772003 — No one charged: 2772004 — Someone charged: 2752004 — Solved another way: 1502004 — No one charged: 4022005 — Someone charged: 2772005 — Solved another way: 1392005 — No one charged: 4512006 — Someone charged: 2482006 — Solved another way: 852006 — No one charged: 3342007 — Someone charged: 3082007 — Solved another way: 1262007 — No one charged: 4332008 — Someone charged: 3602008 — Solved another way: 1152008 — No one charged: 5952009 — Someone charged: 3052009 — Solved another way: 1242009 — No one charged: 8052010 — Someone charged: 3912010 — Solved another way: 1222010 — No one charged: 1,0872011 — Someone charged: 3502011 — Solved another way: 1572011 — No one charged: 1,2032012 — Someone charged: 3412012 — Solved another way: 1642012 — No one charged: 9252013 — Someone charged: 3222013 — Solved another way: 2332013 — No one charged: 8902014 — Someone charged: 2622014 — Solved another way: 2252014 — No one charged: 7212015 — Someone charged: 2022015 — Solved another way: 1992015 — No one charged: 6972016 — Someone charged: 2362016 — Solved another way: 2382016 — No one charged: 5222017 — Someone charged: 1622017 — Solved another way: 1952017 — No one charged: 6552018 — Someone charged: 1182018 — Solved another way: 1352018 — No one charged: 6382019 — Someone charged: 742019 — Solved another way: 392019 — No one charged: 7462020 — Someone charged: 912020 — Solved another way: 222020 — No one charged: 8092021 — Someone charged: 672021 — Solved another way: 212021 — No one charged: 8082022 — Someone charged: 802022 — Solved another way: 152022 — No one charged: 7702023 — Someone charged: 1162023 — Solved another way: 292023 — No one charged: 8472024 — Someone charged: 1042024 — Solved another way: 182024 — No one charged: 1,0262025 — Someone charged: 1072025 — Solved another way: 262025 — No one charged: 89219982002200620102014201820222025
Someone charged 107 Solved another way 26 No one charged 892

Each bar is the year's total reports. The segments show what happened: a charge was laid, the case was solved another way, or no one was charged.

Figures beside each colour are for 2025. This view always shows counts, whichever measure is selected above.

Subtotals inside this category, 2025

Total cocaine, trafficking, production or distribution511 511
Total other Controlled Drugs and Substances Act drugs, trafficking, production or distribution193 193
Total, possession, other Controlled Drugs and Substances Act drugs112 112
Total Cannabis Act35 35

Which offences make this up, 2025

Cocaine, trafficking508 508
Possession, cocaine172 172
Other Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, trafficking157 157
Other Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, possession96 96
Opioid (other than heroin), trafficking21 21
Opioid (other than heroin), possession11 11
Methamphetamines (crystal meth), trafficking5 5
Methamphetamines (crystal meth), production5 5
Methamphetamines (crystal meth), possession3 3
Heroin, possession2 2
Heroin, trafficking1 1
Cocaine, production1 1

Select any offence to see it year by year on its own.

What happened in court, 2024/2025

16 adult criminal court cases were completed in Newfoundland and Labrador under drug possession, and 7 of them, 44 per cent, ended in a guilty finding.

Guilty7 7 44%
Stayed or withdrawn8 8 50%
Acquitted1 1 6%

These are not the incidents above. A court case is counted under the most serious offence it contains, so one case can cover several charges. The court year runs April to March, and the cases completed in it mostly began with charges laid in earlier years. The survey covers adults only; anyone under eighteen at the time of the offence is dealt with in youth court and does not appear here. Court figures cover drug possession only. Trafficking and production are counted in a separate group the police category does not match.

Court outcomes year by year
Court yearCases completed GuiltyStayed or withdrawnAcquitted Guilty per 100
2024/2025 16 781 44
2023/2024 11 470 36
2022/2023 20 9110 45
2021/2022 10 550 50
2020/2021 11 920 82
2019/2020 29 2351 79
2018/2019 52 4381 83
2017/2018 84 67170 80
2016/2017 67 56110 84
2015/2016 80 64160 80
2014/2015 92 71210 77
2013/2014 135 108270 80
2012/2013 131 105260 80
2011/2012 128 99290 77
2010/2011 139 99390 71
2009/2010 139 128110 92
2008/2009 135 116190 86
2007/2008 99 9260 93
2006/2007 130 12280 94
2005/2006 112 98130 88
2004/2005 170 123470 72
2003/2004 216 193230 89
2002/2003 259 238190 92
2001/2002 256 232230 91
2000/2001 233 210230 90
What to know about these figures

These figures come from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, a census of crimes reported to and founded by police. They count what police recorded, not everything that happened. Self-reported victimization surveys consistently find most crime is never reported to police; for sexual assault the reported share was about 6 percent in 2019.

Incidents, charges, and court outcomes come from two separate surveys (UCR and the Integrated Criminal Court Survey) that cannot be linked case by case. Read the stages as four measurements of the same system in the same year, not as one group of cases followed from report to verdict.

In January 2018 the definition of a founded incident changed: an incident is now counted as founded unless there is credible evidence that it did not occur. This raised recorded counts across many offence types. Comparisons that cross 2018 should note it.

Newfoundland and Labrador is policed by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP. UCR coverage of the provincial population is 100 percent.

Cannabis was legalized in October 2018. Offences recorded before that date are not comparable with those recorded after, and pre-legalization cannabis codes were retired.

The series starts in 1998 because that is the first year this category appears in the survey. Earlier years are left out rather than drawn as zero.

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