Lancashire Police Arrest more Youths for a Crime without a Victim.

quote: "They show that last year 127 youngsters were charged with possession of the drug, 124 of them male."

I don't suppose it matters to the law whether or not those 127 did any harm to anyone but it matters to the cause of JUSTICE.

Cannabis - being a substance illegal to possess, grow or supply (without a license) is highly attractive and highly profitable to people of all ages.  Every use is exposed to the world of crime, hard drugs and profiteering, without any restrictions or controls whatsoever.

I have heard that the minimum age for buying cannabis in the UK is £10, whereas through Dutch Coffeeshops it is 18, and they do not have the same sort of problems there.

Furthermore, the attempts at enforcing drug prohibition in the UK costs the UK taxpayer over £16 Billion annually.

Samantha Jones from the Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Action Team said: “We know that, far from being a ‘safe’ drug, cannabis can be very destructive and lead to mental illnesses."

It is a shame that she could not tell the truth, which is that in fact a very small number of users experience serious problems with cannabis (apart from getting arrested) - and of course those people need to be aware of the risks and discouraged - but the FACT is that many MILLIONS of users claim to benefit - and the law does not even attempt to distinguish between them.  Whether a person benefits or suffers they are arrested and treated the same.

And what good does this expensive and unjust prohibition do?

Well it keeps people employed at public expense in the criminal justice industry, boosts profits for pharmaceutical companies and enables untraceable and un-taxable profits from unscrupulous criminal suppliers

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/teenage_drug_use_rises_1_3126043

Lancashire Evening Post, February 28 2011
Teenage drug use rises

Hundreds of cannabis users caught by police in possession of the drug are children, it was revealed today.
In the past three years, officers in Lancashire have charged more than 350 under-18s with possession of the class B drug.
And, over the same period, 17 children aged between 10 and 17 have been charged with DEALING the drug.
Today, the figures were met with alarm by health bosses who warned of the potential effects of cannabis use.
The figures were revealed to the Lancashire Evening Post following a Freedom of Information Act request – and show an increase on two years ago.
They show that last year 127 youngsters were charged with possession of the drug, 124 of them male.
That compares to 76 in 2008, although the figures have fallen since 2009, when there were 146 youngsters charged with the offence.
Samantha Jones from the Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Action Team said: “We know that, far from being a ‘safe’ drug, cannabis can be very destructive and lead to mental illnesses.
“Not only does it cause short-term memory loss and lethargy, which can have a negative effect for young people studying at school or college, but it also increases the risk of cancer and lung disease.
“In Preston, Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire, Youngaddaction Central Lancashire is commissioned to provide substance misuse support to young people up to 21-years-old.”
A police spokesman said: “Clearly, the issue of a child as young as 10 being caught in possession of cannabis is of concern.
“However, this is rare amongst children this young and the overall annual statistics of cannabis possession are low when you consider the number of people across Lancashire in this age category.
“We are aware that young people do experiment with cannabis and we regularly run policing operations and employ stop and searches to address the issue. We combine these tactics with targeted operations aimed at identifying the cultivators and dealers of cannabis and other drugs.”