Durham’s police chief has called for the legalisation of cannabis in the UK and has defended it as being in the general public’s interest.
He has stated that the ban on cannabis only threatens public safety to a greater extent and that it merely benefits organised criminality.
“Yes, it should be legal. That’s what I think based on my experience,” he said.
“I’ve seen a remarkable deterioration in drugs in society over the last 38 years. What we are doing is not working. The status quo is not tenable. It’s getting worse. Drugs are getting cheaper, stronger, more readily available and more dangerous. I have come reluctantly over the years to the conclusion that we need to regulate the market. If you can regulate the market you can make sure it’s old-fashioned cannabis – not skunk or spice,” he continued.
Leader of Durham police, Mike Barton, has argued that those in possession of a couple of plants for their own personal use should not be subject to criminal convictions or raids.
Mr Barton stated this following former foreign secretary William Hague’s claim that cannabis should be legalised in the UK.
