|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Plymouth crime chief says she smoked cannabis, but it shouldn't be legal
Plymouth Herald Friday 10 Jun 2016 The police and crime commissioner's statement came in response to questions about legalising the drug. Ms Hernandez, the Conservative Party candidate elected to the £85,000-a-year job last month, said she smoked cannabis 20 years ago. She was asked about her views on the drug following decisions by neighbouring police forces in Dorset, and Avon & Somerset, not to arrest people possessing cannabis for their own use. Meanwhile Durham PCC Ron Hogg called on his colleagues across the country to support his call for a review of the law. Ms Hernandez said in a statement released by her communications manager Mark Tyler: "Like some young people, I have experienced cannabis smoking around 20 years ago. It is not something I have repeated since then, particularly with a greater understanding of the harm it causes." Ms Hernandez, said she was against legalising the Class B drug, which is in the same category as amphetamines (speed), codeine, barbituates and ketamine. But she said she supported the Devon & Cornwall force policy of opting not to criminalise some "low level" personal users. She said: "I do not think that cannabis should be legalised, because it is potentially harmful. However, I fully support the stance taken on this issue by the Devon and Cornwall force. "They will continue to make arrests where aggravating factors point to a greater level of risk, harm or threat. "However officers have the option to deal with this in other ways which prevents the criminalisation of many, low level, personal users, while at the same time making the most effective use of police time and resources." Ms Hernandez is being investigated by her own police force, along with four South West MPs, over allegations of false election expenses accounting by the Conservative Party at the last General Election. She was the Tory election agent in Torbay at the election in May last year. The inquiry is being carried out by West Mercia constabulary on behalf of Devon & Cornwall chief constable Shaun Sawyer. In Durham, Mr Hogg said in a letter to the country's 40 PCCs on Thursday that the "war on drugs" had failed and the UK's approach was unsustainable. He said cannabis should be legalised for medical use. Last year he announced his local force would not pursue personal users and small-scale growers. It will still target dealers and organised crime. Labour's Mr Hogg urged other forces to take a similar approach and argued legal drugs such as alcohol caused more harm than some illegal ones. The penalty for possessing cannabis is a maximum five years in prison, unlimited fine, or both. But police have the power to issue a warning or £90 on-the-spot fine. Supply and production are punished with up to 14 years. Senior politicians who have admitted using cannabis include former London mayor Boris Johnson, former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman and Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Earlier this year the Liberal Democrats became the first mainstream UK political party to adopt a policy in favour of legalising the drug. Cannabis is the most widely used illegal substance in the UK, although it has fallen steadily since 1996. Studies suggest more than two million people in the UK smoke it and half of all 16 to 29-year-olds have tried it. In the latest survey by polling company ORB for The Independent in April, nearly half of adults supported legalising cannabis for sale in shops, with 58% in Scotland and 54% in London in favour. The Royal Society of Psychiatrists says: "In spite of government and media warnings about health risks, many people see cannabis as a harmless substance that helps you to relax and 'chill' - a drug that, unlike alcohol and cigarettes, might even be good for your physical and mental health. "On the other hand, research over the last 10 years has suggested that it can have serious consequences for people, such as the development of an enduring psychotic illness, particularly in those who are genetically vulnerable." http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-crime-chief-says-smoked-cannabis-shouldn/story-29384722-detail/story.html
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!