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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Letter: 'Court for 2 Pounds worth of cannabis? The drug laws aren't working' ANDREW LYE Western Telegraph Wednesday 26 Feb 2020 The law also prevents you from buying for than two boxes of aspirins or paracetamol, yet doesn't question you if you take two trolleys through the checkout, full of spirits, beer and cigarettes. Likewise, here in Pembrokeshire, I read the Western Telegraph and Milford Mercury and see the court cases. More or less every week, we see Pembrokeshire residents getting a criminal record for possessing miniscule amounts [of cannabis]. I have no problem with the prosecution of those dealing in hard drugs. What has inspired me to write this letter is to question the powers that be about the recent prosecution of a man from Milford Haven. The police had gone into his house on another matter and saw cannabis resin on his coffee table. The weight was .2 of a gram, with a street value apparently, of £2. So, police time was taken in recording the ‘crime’ and presumably to attend Haverfordwest magistrates court. Whether they did is not the issue. The fact is that court time was also expended on the magistrates, the court staff and possibly solicitors. I am sure I am not the only person to wonder how much it cost in total to get the prosecution. Most of the cases you read about are very small amounts for the personal use of the person prosecuted. The police in Pembrokeshire are certainly putting a lot of effort in prosecuting these individuals, yet we read that the likelihood of a prosecution if your house is burgled is low. I would prefer the police to use an element of common sense if they detect very small amounts of cannabis. Maybe a caution. But to pursue a prosecution for a drug with a street value of £2 sends out the wrong signals at a time we are told that the UK needs an extra 20,000 police officers. You could read these court cases and feel that maybe we have a surplus of police officers if these are the cases that are going to court. If I was burgled, I would prefer to see that person caught and prosecuted. I end by saying that I have never taken an illegal drug, though I was offered cannabis at a student party in the mid-80s, but I turned it down as I preferred to consume alcohol. I also hope that the law is changed so that cannabis is decriminalised and sold on the high street, so that you know you are getting quality products and not something sold by a criminal gang that profit from today's outdated laws, and the quality could be dubious. The government could also tax it, so the criminal gangs do not profit from it, in future. I also accept that cannabis can affect the mental health of some users. But then look at the effects of alcohol and tobacco. They are legal! The current law is not working as so many people use or have taken cannabis. ANDREW LYE, Johnston
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