Drug dealers and users in Northern Ireland are four times more likely to escape prosecution than in the rest of the UK, it was claimed last night.
Only one in eight of all those arrested in Northern Ireland for suspected narcotics offences were taken to court, according to new figures.
But statistics provided for England and Wales showed nearly 55 per cent of those questioned about drug offences were charged.
Policing Board members in Belfast claimed the authorities had failed to get a grip on a growing drug problem.
Mr Sammy Wilson, one of the Democratic Unionists on the board, said: "We are getting close to a virtual legalisation of all drugs in Northern Ireland."
Out of 823 people arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland during the first nine months of last year just 110 ended up in the dock.
In 1999 a total of 145,302 people were arrested for drug offences in England and Wales. Of that total 79,232 appeared in court, 15,668 were fined by Customs and the Inland Revenue authorities and 50,402 escaped with a caution.
Assistant Chief Constable Roy Toner told the board that Inspectorate of Constabulary officials used methods to collect British figures different from the targets set in the policing plan for Northern Ireland.
Mr Wilson insisted that did not explain how four times more people in England and Wales are prosecuted than in Northern Ireland.
"The police and the Director of Public Prosecutions seem to think it's not worth pursuing these cases, and yet more young people are getting dragged into the drugs culture," he said.
"If there is a law which says you should not misuse drugs and that law is breached you have got to enforce it."