This trend is to be expected, as the early months of the year usually result in fewer drug offences in Telford. Of the 47 drug offences recorded in Telford in 2019, only three happened in the first two months of the year, with an average offence rate of four per month and a median offence rate of five per month.
Specific locations are uncommon for drug offences, as these low-level offences have a high rate of anonymisation, meaning that location is generally so obscured as to be functionally unknown. Similarly, drug offences occurring during travel tend not to have their locations recorded. As with many other crimes, rates of drug use are tightly tied to poverty and income levels, with lower income and job opportunities correlating with drug abuse. Similarly, drug crimes are more likely to be committed by younger people, though serious drug crimes involving violence and organised drug dealing (as opposed to addiction-related theft or unlawful drug ownership and use) tend to be linked to organised crime groups, in which younger people are seldom strongly involved, and of which there is little evidence in Telford.
