Turning a blind eye to cannabis use on our streets stinks

OUR STREETS stink of the stench of cannabis. This problem has been ignored for far too long, but now senior police officers are finally realising that by not tackling it, a climate of crime is created and it festers.

- Duncan Barkes

Sir Andy Marsh is the chief executive of the College of Policing. He is also a former chief constable of Avon and Somerset. In comments that resonate with all of us, he said that the public use of cannabis made him feel unsafe in his own community and that it is something the police ought to do something about.

His stance was supported by other police heads in the country. It is pretty much impossible to walk down any major street in Britain and not encounter the sickly smell of cannabis wafting in your general direction.

We find ourselves in this position as too many politicians over the years have taken a soft approach to cannabis use, as it has not been viewed as a particularly damaging drug.

It is categorised as a Class B drug and is illegal to use for recreational purposes.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan recently called for the possession of small quantities of it to be decriminalised, probably because he has realised that its public use is so rampant in parts of London that trying to police it would cause all kinds of problems for his officers, leading to potential increased tensions.