When I stood as the Ukip Police and Crime Commissioner candidate in 2012 for Greater Manchester, I was a strong voice against the decriminalisation of drugs then and my view, driven by evidence, has not changed since. The reality is that decriminalising drugs would result in drug houses becoming a familiar sight in our towns, in which users would be able to indulge in poisoning there bodies LEGALLY. Drug addicts need deterrence, not encouragement from the state. The most effective deterrent must come from our judicial system. [continues 116 words]
Sir Peter Fahy said he was in favour of a 'more medical approach' to dealing with drug offenders. The GMP chief constable added that 'everyone' involved in drugs policy had 'concerns' about the current approach. A Home Office report revealed there was 'no obvious' link between tough laws and drug use. It sparked a debate of decriminalisation of some or all drugs - with the report pointing to the example of Portugal, where there has been a 'considerable' improvement in the health of users since the country made possession a health issue rather than a criminal one in 2001. [continues 114 words]
Chief Constable Says Force Has Policy of Not Criminalising Children With Small Amounts of Illegal Substances ALMOST 100 pupils have been found with illegal drugs in Greater Manchester's schools over the last three years - but charges were only brought in six cases. Dozens of pupils have been caught with cannabis The vast majority of the pupils caught had cannabis, but some were discovered with class A drugs - including heroin and ecstasy. Most of the incidents related to secondary schools, although police were called to two primary schools after pupils inadvertenly brought suspicous or illegal substances in from home. Figures, obtained by the M.E.N. using Freedom of Information laws, show that Greater Manchester Police dealt with 99 drug crimes involving students at schools between January 2012 and September this year. [continues 318 words]
ILLEGAL drug use has become a social norm now. You can walk through Manchester city centre any day of the week and within minutes you will smell cannabis. And that's in the city centre, never mind the estates, where people are smoking it like they would drink a cup of tea. I see kids walking to school at 8am smoking spliffs. It's pretty clear that the war on drugs has been a failure. History teaches us that prohibition doesn't work. [continues 223 words]
Colin Davies - once jailed for drug trafficking and famous for handing over a bouquet of flowers containing cannabis to the Queen - is heading for another collision with the authorities after announcing his intention to open The New Way Cafe on Tariff Street in January. He said cannabis wouldn't be traded on the property although members would be invited to bring their own drugs for personal consumption. Possession and supply of cannabis remains against the law despite long-standing campaigns to legalise the drug. [continues 446 words]
A woman who started smoking cannabis at the age of 15 has warned of the dangers of the drug after new research showed it can lower the IQ of young teenagers and may cause permanent mental impairment. Zoe Houston, 38, smoked up to 25 joints a day after getting hooked just months after leaving school. Her addiction became so bad that she dropped out of college because she couldn't concentrate on her studies - and needed to earn cash to feed her habit. [continues 394 words]
FOR more than two years, pregnant mum Isabelle Clement has pleaded with the council to clean up the drugs-ridden estate where she lives with her young family. Traumatised by stepping over dirty needles and drug users to reach her front door, she says she has called, emailed and written to town hall staff, attended residents meetings and at her most desperate sent daily emails containing photos of the dirty needles, alcohol bottles and even human faeces that litter the stairwell to her flat in Inglewood Walk, Brunswick. [continues 480 words]
COCAINE and heroin addicts on a government treatment programme are being given extra drugs as a reward for good behaviour, it has been claimed. A survey of almost 200 clinics in England by the National Treatment Agency (NTA), found users were being offered extra heroin substitute methadone or anti-depressants for clean urine samples. The NTA said the practice was unethical and it wanted to see certain practices 'squeezed out of the system'. A third of clinics in the survey said users who produced a drug-free urine sample may be offered increased doses of heroin substitute as a reward - known as 'contingency management'. [continues 220 words]
Prime-Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown today promised to make Britain safer at a conference of top police officers in Manchester. In a wide ranging speech delivered at the annual conference of the Association of Chief Police Officers being held at the Midland Hotel, the Chancellor also promised a review of how police tackle drug dealers - with education about the perils of drugs starting in primary school. He also announced new money to ease prison overcrowding and added he wanted tougher sentences for thugs who commit crimes on public transport. [continues 276 words]
A THIRD of Britain's Euro MPs support the decriminalisation of cannabis, according to a study. They were second only to the Dutch in their support for a change in the law. Research by Manchester University shows a significant proportion of British MEPs who answered a survey believe the drug should be made legal despite growing health fears over its use. There are thought to be two million regular users of the drug in Britain. Studies suggest it is linked to severe mental illness such as schizophrenia. Thirty-seven of Britain's 78 MEPs took part in the study. [continues 223 words]
ALCOHOL is considered almost as harmful as heroin in a new drug classification system proposed by leading scientists. Class A drug Ecstasy - possession of which can mean seven years in jail - is near the bottom of the league table which lists 'harm scores' for different substances. LSD, another class A drug, is also considered relatively safe, despite its powerful hallucinogenic properties. Cannabis, recently downgraded to class C, occupies a middle position. It is rated more dangerous than Ecstasy, LSD and dance floor drug GHB, but less harmful than tobacco. The table, which is published today in The Lancet medical journal, is intended to be more scientifically based than the current Misuse of Drugs Act system. [continues 71 words]
A GRANDMOTHER convicted of growing and possessing cannabis has vowed to defy the judge and continue using the drug as medication. Patricia Tabram, 68, was ordered to do 250 hours' unpaid work. It was her second drugs offence and it could see her evicted from her housing association bungalow. But the unrepetnant gran, who cooks with cannabis to ease depression aches and pains, said outside Carlisle Crown Court: "I am still going to medicate with cannabis. "This court is not fit for purpose and I am taking up an appeal and putting in a complaint about the fact I was not allowed to have a defence. [continues 210 words]
A POLICE crackdown on cannabis farms has left dealers struggling to keep up with demand. Some dealers are even offering cash to regular customers who agree to grow drugs in their spare room. Drug education charity DrugScope said the campaign by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) - which lasted less than a fortnight - led to the street price of dope doubling in some areas. The group said dealers were finding it difficult to keep up with demand after hundreds of farms were raided by police across England and Wales. [continues 167 words]
MILLIONS of people could benefit if the world's first trial to investigate the effects of cannabinoids on progression of multiple sclerosis is a success, it has been claimed. The UKP2million three-year trial, led by Professor John Zajicek, is being carried out in Britain with the help of 500 volunteers, nearly 20 of whom have already been recruited. The aim is to discover whether cannabis derivatives could play a role in slowing the progression of MS, a chronic disease of the nervous system suffered by around 85,000 people in Britain. [continues 130 words]
A PRISON officer has admitted trying to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into jail to pay off a gambling debt owed to an inmate. David Bentley, 38, tried to take three large blocks of cannabis resin, pills and four mobile phones to a prisoner at Risley, near Warrington, on Christmas Eve. Fellow officers found the drugs and phones in two sealed bags of crisps during a routine search when he arrived for work. Susan Tickle, prosecuting, told Warrington magistrates' court: "Mr Bentley initially told police he had taken the packages in at the request of a prisoner on his wing to whom he owed UKP 300 in gambling debts. [continues 193 words]
AN attempt to effectively legalise the use of cannabis for the relief of chronic pain was rejected by the Court of Appeal today. Three judges ruled against the argument that conduct which would otherwise be unlawful was "excused or justified by the need to avoid a greater evil"; and that the defence of necessity should be available to those who used or supplied the drug to alleviate severe pain. Effective The court had been told that cannabis was more effective than conventional forms of pain relief and did not have the potentially serious and life-threatening side-effects of alternative treatments. [continues 57 words]
A grandmother who was spared jail after cooking up treats laced with cannabis for friends and neighbours plans to stand against House of Commons leader Peter Hain in the election, it has emerged. Patricia Tabram, who prides herself on her home-made herbal cookies, casseroles and soups, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply from her home in East Lea, Humshaugh, near Hexham, Northumberland. The sprightly 66-year-old had cooked up treats laced with the drug for neighbours and friends in her village after being introduced to it last year. Mrs Tabram admitted buying the cannabis in bulk for herself and four friends - who all take the drug to relieve medical problems. [continues 238 words]
THE Tories' policy chief today denied the Party was split over the issue of re-classifying cannabis. David Cameron, who originally backed calls for the drug to be downgraded from Class B to C, admitted the issue was "slightly awkward" for him. He said there had been disagreements in the past but the Conservatives stood firm on reversing current Government policy. Cannabis was downgraded to Class C last year, placing it alongside anabolic steroids and prescription antibiotics. "The Conservative Party's had a very clear view for a long time about cannabis, which is that it shouldn't be reclassified from B to C," he told ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby Programme. [continues 260 words]
NORTH-WEST health experts are convinced there is a link between cannabis and psychiatric illness. They say there is mounting evidence that the drug can worsen or even bring on conditions such as schizophrenia. British, Dutch, Swedish and New Zealand-based projects have all concluded there is a definite association between the drug and mental illness. No researcher has ever said that cannabis is the root cause of a long-term psychotic condition, but the general consensus is that people with a family history of psychiatric problems should avoid it. [continues 454 words]
ANGRY residents today hit back at a BBC programme which highlighted widespread drug dealing and abuse on their housing estate. They said the documentary last night focusing on the housing estate in Bury - known locally as the Dicky Bird estate - painted a one-sided view and glamorised drug use. Graphic images of crack cocaine and heroin abuse featured strongly in Drugland: Manchester. Drug users and dealers were interviewed in what BBC bosses called "a shocking 60-minute expose" of their day-to-day lives. [continues 415 words]
