From [HERE] Black people in England and Wales are almost nine times more likely than whites to be stopped and searched for drugs, according to a report.

Analysis by the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Stopwatch coalition and drug law experts Release suggests that, while police use of stop and search powers has fallen significantly, there has been an increase in racial disparities in the policing and prosecution of drug offences.

By 2016-17, black people were stopped and searched at 8.7 times the rate of white people for drugs, and 7.9 times the rate of white people for other offences, the report said.

In the year to March 2017, police in England and Wales carried out 303,845 stops and searches, the lowest number since current data records started in 2001-02.

The tactics have attracted controversy amid criticism they have unfairly focused on black and minority ethnic individuals.