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Senior officer backs call for review of drug status |
Saying the same thing over and over again doesn't change a thing, or make it right. Maintaining prohibition is not going to make organised cannabis growers go away no matter what sentences you threaten them with, in the same vein as telling people of the risks associated with using heroin and cocaine "cut" with who knows what chemicals is dangerous, will stop people from using these substances. Quite the contrary in fact. By enforcing the illegal status of cannabis the police are actually encouraging organised criminals by bolstering the market. This is a really simple equation. Organised crime, minus crime, equals no organised crime, as is the case in Holland, in Belgium and in Portugal. By taking cannabis out of the hands of criminals and regulating its supply at government level, these cannabis farms will go out of business, almost overnight. | A SENIOR officer at Northamptonshire Police has backed a review into the reclassification of cannabis following the discovery of the sixth illegal drug farm in the county in less than two weeks.
| Five of the hydroponic farms have been dismantled in Daventry and surrounding villages since the start of the year.
Speaking at the scene of the latest find yesterday,
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If the government regulated the supply of cannabis, as they do in Holland (and as they do with tobacco - a drug with far greater health implications), organised criminals would need to up-sticks and move elsewhere.
| | Supt George Shipman said classifying the drug in the same league as tranquilisers and steroids sent out “the wrong message”. |
He said: “Northamptonshire Police supports the Government’s review of the current classification of cannabis as a Class C drug.
“Firstly it is linked to organised crime. We are not talking about students thinking of the 1960s having a smoke. These are gangs of organised criminals producing a large scale of controlled drugs.
“Secondly, but most importantly, is the link to public health. The cannabis grown in this type of factory is stronger than the drug used by cannabis users within the UK and there is evidence that it is linked to mental health issues.”
During 2007, Northamptonshire Police closed 29 cannabis factories across the county, but have already reached one fifth of that total in the first two weeks of 2008.
The Byfield factory had been up and running for about two months and had potentially already supplied £50,000 worth of illegal drugs in that time.
Two arrests have been made, following the Charwelton and Byfield raids, and both men are believed to be of Vietnamese origin.
Supt Shipman added: “We cannot say which classification we would prefer the drug to be, but I’m happy to say that leaving cannabis as a Class C drug sends out the wrong message because it ignores health problems.”
| http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk
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