SOUTH WOODFORD: Cannabis seized from house (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

“If Cannabis were legal there would be none of the problems that currently surround the trade. Every country that has tied a more humane approach has seen a huge reduction in the violence and criminality in the trade, slightly fewer adults use it and use amongst children is markedy lowered.It is also worth noting that in the Netherlands where they have had a policy whereby consenting adults are allowed safe access to fairly traded and well produced Cannabis the Heroin usage has remained virtually constant for decades as they have been getting no new young recruits, indeed as the Heroin using population ages there, the use of Heroin is now starting to reduce there. Wheras here in the U.K. we have a hugely escalating problem with Heroin. So what's not to like about legalisation?”

Huge profits can be made from the cultivation of cannabis. The papers are constantly advertising this fact. It's not surprising people are cashing in and because of the huge potential profits, organised crime gangs are also cashing in . However it is a dangerous option unless, of course, you are a friend of the government. In this case you can grow 60,000 high quality, high potency cannabis plants on a science park in kent with impunity. Not only this, you can also extract all the active ingredients, bottle it and sell it as a 'safe and effective' medicine, worldwide, at huge profit (google Sativex). The war against cannabis users has only one purpose - to protect the huge profits of Pharmaceutical companies and their investors (including MPs). We are being conned and deprived of a valuable medicine, which the government deem dangerous, unless you have a licence when it magically becomes 'safe and effective' .The only way to resolve the situation is to legalise and allow people to grow their own. The cannabis 'factory' problem will virtually disappearand police can apply their scarce resources to catching real criminals with real victims.

Ten plant stalks and six bags of cannabis? Whatever way you look at it, that's far safer than a single can of lager that you could buy easily from an off licence.

Why are we wasting huge amounts of money stopping this then, because it means resources are diverted away from real criminals with real victims - rapists, paedophiles, violent thugs.

Someone smoking cannabis is harming no-one, yet we see fit to make investigating and punishing it a higher priority than a massive host of real crimes. It's nuts!

Fancy a change - join CLEAR.

Why is so much public money and police resources wasted on the non-crime of cannabis cultivation/possessi
on?

A crime should only be a crime when there is a victim - with cannabis, the only victims are those poor individuals who have been raided and prosecuted.

A medicinal cannabis user, Winston Matthews, has recently been jailed for 16 months for growing cannabis for his own use. His medical need was recognised in court, and the fact that the plants were solely for his own consumption.

What a twisted and cruel system that punishes an invalid like this for wanting to alleviate his severe back pain.