No lockdown drug use rise
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE’S police chief says there has not been an increase in people turning to cannabis during the pandemic despite three factories being discovered in homes this week.
More than £4m-worth of cannabis plants have been seized by Nottinghamshire Police during the pandemic, many of which were discovered in people’s homes.
This week, two cannabis factories were discovered in Bilborough, including £50,000 in cash, and one was also closed down in Eastwood.
This is one of many cannabis factories shut down by police during the coronavirus pandemic.
Others have been found in Mansfield, Beechdale, Worksop and Radford.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford said more cannabis factories were being discovered because they were receiving more information from the public on where they were based.
Police said cannabis factories are dangerous due to the bypass of electricity and cause anti-social behaviour with criminals and users congregating in the area.
He said police were not seeing a decline in Class A drug use, such as heroin and crack cocaine, with 100 more cases prosecuted last year.
He told the Post: “Cannabis is a recreational drug and mainly available on a homegrown basis rather than imported these days.
“Broadly, cannabis, local availability, you are right we are discovering more cannabis grows but we are doing more of that because the public are telling us ‘this is where they are growing’ and with these new Operation Reacher teams, we will remove that where we possibly can.
“Cannabis does come at a cost. It’s a controlled drug. There are various arguments for and against its decriminalisation but it remains an offence.
“Locally grown cannabis usually involves some kind of bypass of electricity which is dangerous and a danger to other householders and some of the ways it is grown and under certain circumstances, its potency is nothing like it was 30 years ago when I joined the cops.
“I think at the start of Covid, with there being fewer people on the street, the police certainly found it a little bit easier in discovering people who were dealing drugs because they stood out more from the crowd.
“Broadly, I don’t think Covid has had a link with increased recreational drug use. I have not seen any evidence of that.”
He added: “There is no let-up in the targeted operations we continually run against dealers of Class A drug (as well). Last year, we prosecuted 100 more cases of dealing in drugs and a lot of that was Class A and large quantities.”
Inspector Marcus Oldroyd, responsible for managing 12 new crime-fighting police teams which are targeting cannabis factories in homes, said: “This is a complex and organised crime operation.
“The kit is not cheap. You have fan extractors and electrical equipment including transformers. You have a plethora of stuff to set up a farm. This is a multi-layered criminal operation.”
He said plants can range from £800 to £1,000 and the people found in these “cannabis gardens” are usually at the bottom of the criminal network living in “appalling” conditions.