Cannabis factories are everywhere. Literally everywhere. This has been shown in the last couple of weeks with a discovery of a cannabis factory in Legoland (Legoland for Christ's sake!) and another in an abandoned nuclear bunker.
Obviously it wasn't a new attraction that Legoland were trialing, it was a remote outhouse on their land, but it was there all the same.
More often than not, however, cannabis factories are found in normal suburban homes. Tending to be more prevalent in either council, housing association or privately rented houses which have been acquired using fake or stolen identities. Sometimes the details of the vulnerable are used to acquire the properties. The electricity will be bypassed to hide the excessive usage. Usually in a rather dangerous manner I might add. These properties are very much in demand by regular families at a time where housing is at such a great shortage in London. Instead they are used to grow cannabis.
Criminal gangs are said to make about £250,000 from each of the small suburban factories a year. And they have plenty of them. It is accepted that one by one they will be discovered, so new ones are constantly popping up to make up for any loss. Due to the high profits made, the loss of a single harvest and all the equipment involved is insignificant.
I've discovered many of these myself. Normally the door is forced and you will hear a frantic scurry from inside. Upon entry you will find a rear window open and a poor fellow darting away across the rear gardens. Occasionally you find these people asleep or simply waiting for police in amongst the plants. These guys are not the criminal masterminds. They are usually vulnerable people, or persons whom have entered the country illegally. In return for a place to stay and a pitiful wage they are paid to take care of the plants by the gangs.
Occasionally somebody will set up a mini cannabis factory in their own residence in order to supplement their income or feed their own habit. Twice (TWICE!) I have attended addresses where the occupant has wished to make some sort of allegation. They have called police to their home themselves! A quick whiff inside and an experienced copper knows exactly what is behind one of those shut bedroom doors. So twice I have been called by somebody to help them with something only to end up arresting them for cultivating cannabis. As I hinted at earlier, these people are not always criminal masterminds.
I've spoken before about the problems with relatively harmless drugs such as cannabis being illegal. These factories are everywhere, and even in the most surprising of places (for example Legoland). They are filling the coffers of criminal gangs with millions and millions of pounds every year and I hasten to guess that their profits aren't being donated to Cancer Research.
For every cannabis factory police find and shut down, another two pop up. So, the question remains, are you living next door to a factory?
Anonymous Bobby
Showing posts with label drug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drug. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2017
Friday, February 3, 2017
A Ceasefire in the War on Drugs
People are going to take drugs. Not everybody, but a good proportion of people. Some will take drugs recreationally, some will become addicted. Some will dip in and out of drug use, some will spiral into a depraved world and hectic lifestyle. Some people will never try an illegal drug. Some people will try them all.
The above is probably going to remain true no matter what approach we take to drug use. The fact is we need to start focusing our resources on harm reduction and assistance for those that drug use affects so negatively.
As always, I don't have the answers. But I do know that what we are currently doing does not work. We criminalise ordinary people, and sometimes sick people, for drug use or possession. Licensed venues such as clubs are terrified of working with police as police licensing teams rule with an iron rod and if the clubs admit drug use in their venues then they are closed, temporarily or sometimes indefinitely.
Legalisation is not necessarily the answer. But a redirection of funds and resources, such as man power, into education, prevention, and intervention would, in my opinion, be a start. That's all very broad I understand, but it's better than locking people up for taking drugs.
Some people like to get fucked up, for a myriad of reasons (Good heavens! Excuse my French). First and foremost we need to focus on making sure it is done as safely as possible. Persecuting people leads to an aura of "unapproachability". We have been arresting people for using drugs for decades, and it is still happening. So perhaps, whilst keeping a principle of illegality, we lower the stick slightly and raise the carrot.
From a policing point of view all resources should be directed towards those who prey on the vulnerable and sell narcotics, and those who manufacture them. An incredible amount of man hours are wasted while officers deal with people whom have been stopped with £10 worth of cannabis. As a society we gain nothing from this. It costs a fortune, it takes police off the streets for unnecessarily long amounts of time, and it criminalises (albeit sometimes in a very minor way) somebody for doing something that so many of us have done (Hands up! Who's smoked a joint before?! You're nicked!).
As I said, I don't have the answers. We do, however, need a cataclysmic shift in the way we deal with drug use in London, and the UK. I'm not pro-drug. I'm anti criminalisation for minor drug possession. I'm pro harm reduction.
Your sons and daughters, as with mine, are quite likely to try drugs at some point. No matter how much we try, it is likely to happen. If they were to be caught, would you want them thrown in a cell or taught the realities and consequences of their actions? Before being safely deposited back to yourselves, of course. It all sounds a little 'la-de-da' I know. I'm not a 'la-de-da' person generally, but the above is a typical example of the pointlessness of criminalising people.
As for prison, drug users often tell me that it is the opposite that a drug addict needs. Drugs are, apparently, widely available and if you think that prison will get people clean, you are very wrong. Addicts should be provided with safe environments to take hard drugs, with clean needles and medical staff on site. This has been implemented in several countries, and very successfully too. Whilst they are there, counsellors work their magic and gently prod and probe to get each person ready for recovery.
It's a difficult subject and nobody knows exactly what will work and what won't. Those that dabble in drugs are generally little nuisance to society, and those that become addled with addiction are a gigantic peck of bother! Those that are addicted should be 'treated' rather than 'punished'.
Please feel free to comment below to let me know your own stance on drug policies.
Anonymous Bobby
The above is probably going to remain true no matter what approach we take to drug use. The fact is we need to start focusing our resources on harm reduction and assistance for those that drug use affects so negatively.
As always, I don't have the answers. But I do know that what we are currently doing does not work. We criminalise ordinary people, and sometimes sick people, for drug use or possession. Licensed venues such as clubs are terrified of working with police as police licensing teams rule with an iron rod and if the clubs admit drug use in their venues then they are closed, temporarily or sometimes indefinitely.
Legalisation is not necessarily the answer. But a redirection of funds and resources, such as man power, into education, prevention, and intervention would, in my opinion, be a start. That's all very broad I understand, but it's better than locking people up for taking drugs.
Some people like to get fucked up, for a myriad of reasons (Good heavens! Excuse my French). First and foremost we need to focus on making sure it is done as safely as possible. Persecuting people leads to an aura of "unapproachability". We have been arresting people for using drugs for decades, and it is still happening. So perhaps, whilst keeping a principle of illegality, we lower the stick slightly and raise the carrot.
From a policing point of view all resources should be directed towards those who prey on the vulnerable and sell narcotics, and those who manufacture them. An incredible amount of man hours are wasted while officers deal with people whom have been stopped with £10 worth of cannabis. As a society we gain nothing from this. It costs a fortune, it takes police off the streets for unnecessarily long amounts of time, and it criminalises (albeit sometimes in a very minor way) somebody for doing something that so many of us have done (Hands up! Who's smoked a joint before?! You're nicked!).
As I said, I don't have the answers. We do, however, need a cataclysmic shift in the way we deal with drug use in London, and the UK. I'm not pro-drug. I'm anti criminalisation for minor drug possession. I'm pro harm reduction.
Your sons and daughters, as with mine, are quite likely to try drugs at some point. No matter how much we try, it is likely to happen. If they were to be caught, would you want them thrown in a cell or taught the realities and consequences of their actions? Before being safely deposited back to yourselves, of course. It all sounds a little 'la-de-da' I know. I'm not a 'la-de-da' person generally, but the above is a typical example of the pointlessness of criminalising people.
As for prison, drug users often tell me that it is the opposite that a drug addict needs. Drugs are, apparently, widely available and if you think that prison will get people clean, you are very wrong. Addicts should be provided with safe environments to take hard drugs, with clean needles and medical staff on site. This has been implemented in several countries, and very successfully too. Whilst they are there, counsellors work their magic and gently prod and probe to get each person ready for recovery.
It's a difficult subject and nobody knows exactly what will work and what won't. Those that dabble in drugs are generally little nuisance to society, and those that become addled with addiction are a gigantic peck of bother! Those that are addicted should be 'treated' rather than 'punished'.
Please feel free to comment below to let me know your own stance on drug policies.
Anonymous Bobby
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