Source: Morning Star Online
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Campaigners for the legalisation of cannabis in Britain have pointed to a spiralling number of police raids on cannabis factories as evidence that prohibition has been a failure.
Campaigners for the legalisation of cannabis in Britain have pointed to a spiralling number of police raids on cannabis factories as evidence that prohibition has been a failure.
New national figures brought out by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) show that 6,886 cannabis factories have been raided in the past year, approximately 20 every day.
The figure dwarfs that of two years ago, when 3,032 buildings were raided, and is more than eight times the average number of recorded busts between 2004 and 2007.
Don Barnard of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance said: “Despite all these raids people can still get cannabis.
“Politicians should realise that nearly 40 years after the Misuse of Drugs Act nothing has been achieved – the whole project has been a waste of time.
“Given the cuts which are being faced by police under this government, surely they must start looking into whether it’s worth spending such huge sums on criminalising cannabis.”
Commander Allan Gibson, the Acpo lead on cannabis, said the rise was in part down to an increased focus on the issue by the authorities.
“The police response is now stronger and more effective through better co-ordination and intelligence sharing between forces and other agencies and more covert operations against the operators,” he said.
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