Police chief backs cannabis home-growers
Forces are accused of ignoring the law by failing to prosecute club members who buy and sell the drug
A police chief has signalled support for cannabis users to grow and sell the drug. Arfon Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales, said he was “sympathetic” to so-called “cannabis clubs” that let members grow their own plants to share the drug with each other.
A POLICE chief has given the go-ahead for cannabis users to grow and sell the drug, as forces were accused of ignoring the law.
Arfon Jones, police and crime commissioner for North Wales, signalled support for “Spanish-style” collectives, where cannabis users sell home-grown drugs to each other.
It comes amid increasing concern over so-called “cannabis clubs” after The Daily Telegraph revealed nearly 160 are operating with impunity across the country.
Possession of cannabis carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and an unlimited fine, while dealing can result in a 14-year prison sentence.
However, Mr Jones told The Telegraph he was “sympathetic” to clubs allowing users to grow their own cannabis for “regulated consumption by their members”. He added that authorities should focus instead on the “legal regulation of cannabis for medicinal and recreational use”.
The Home Office this week criticised police for failing to enforce the law.
But last night, Durham Constabulary admitted officers were not likely to search homes, even if the occupants were known to be cultivating cannabis.
A spokesman said: “Anyone who is seen by a police officer to be smoking cannabis in Co Durham and Darlington will be arrested. However, our officers are unlikely to apply for a warrant to search a house if they learn there is a single plant grown for personal use.”
Last night, Greg de Hoedt, founder of the national network of cannabis clubs, claimed their members included magistrates, bank managers, nurses and television actors. He also said they had delivered illegal cannabis oil to the wife of an MP for medicinal purposes.
He said that firefighters suffering from post-traumatic stress used the
‘Authorities should focus on the legal regulation of cannabis for medicinal and recreational use’
drug, as well as ex-military personnel. In Middlesbrough, Michael Fisher, a cannabis club chairman, admitted members openly bought and sold the class B drug, because being in a collective “keeps the price down”.
He said: “Cannabis will be traded between members for anything from £100 an ounce to £150 an ounce,” he said. “The street value is £200 to £280 an ounce. The average age of our current members is around 45.
“We have a couple of gentlemen in their 60s and one in his 70s. We have a lot of people that own their own businesses – everything from furniture to car sales to mechanics.”
The Teesside club is run in a city centre office block, and has 180 members paying £45 a year.
“In four years of operating, we have only had one caution by police and that was for a noise complaint at the cannabis festival,” Mr Fisher added.
In the past, he has been cautioned 36 times for cannabis-related offences and been handed a 36-week suspended sentence for possession with intent to supply the drug. However, since 2011, despite running a cannabis club, he has been largely left alone.
Sy Dignam, chairman of the Hampshire Cannabis Club, organised a meeting of 150 people on a beach in Portsmouth last month.
“The police didn’t turn up, they never do,” he said. “If someone complains they have to come down, but the last time they came, they had a look at my stall with my grinders and all my merchandise and said ‘We can’t smell cannabis’ and walked off.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The trade and possession of recreational cannabis is illegal, regardless of where you use it. Scientific and medical evidence is clear that recreational cannabis use can cause harm to individuals and society. Those using it should be in no doubt that if they are caught they face prosecution and a jail term of five years. How police choose to pursue investigations is an operational decision for chief constables, but we expect them to enforce the law.”