Officers in Stoke sniff out £2k stash of cannabis

“How much did it cost to take this poor chap through the courts - more than £2 I bet. What is his actual crime? - avoiding the funding of organised crime I guess. Who are his victims? - no-one. If GW Pharmaceuticals are allowed a licence to grow 20 tons of cannabis a year for medicine why aren't we. This chap was doing nothing different to them, they get generous tax breaks and sell their product worldwide, he gets fined - for doing exactly the same thing. Hypocrisy and denial of basic human rights by a morally corrupt state machine.”

“IF** some one suffering from MS.... (typo)”

“Growing for personal use, and before anyone questions the amount he was growing, I mean 30 plants could range from a seedling to a mature female. Home growing is a hobby, a hobby that stops cannabis users giving their money to criminals, instead they give it to gardening stores. A hobby that prevents contamination, prevents a lack in CBD and funding the black economy. If home growers where issued a licence, and where taxed, it could be monitored and controlled instead of the free-for-all we have now. Its a plant for Gods sake, and before anyone starts with the 'so is heroine' nonsense, heroine and cocaine where once plants before man put them through an unnatural process for them to become hard drugs on the streets, cannabis has nothing added to it except plant food. Its a plant that grows naturally and humans have been utilising this plant for over 10,000 years. If every cannabis user could grow their own at home, im sure many drug dealers who sell cannabis will notice a decline in clientèle. So drug dealers dont want you to grow your own, but then again neither do GW pharma who grow thousands of high grade cannabis in Kent, as medicine. Not cannabis 'based' medicine, pure cannabis oil stronger than any street weed. Called sativex, its the most expensive cannabis in the world. 10 times more expensive than street weed, yet hardly 10 times more medicinal. Im some one suffering from MS, MD, PTSD, Chrons disease, epilepsy and so on could grow the same medicine at home for next to nothing, well that may pose a threat to GWpharma. Wake up people, cannabis isnt illegal because it has a small potential for harm when abused by kids and the vulnerable. The reasons why its illegal have nothing to do with expert advice and scientific evidence, and everything to do with Personal prejudices, political cowardice and vested interest.”

“"They also found a cannabis plant that was estimated to have had the potential to produce around £210 of the drug."

If hope you journalists realize that "the drug", which is essentially a plant is really worth as much as your onions or carrots in the backyard garden?
So "£210 of the drug" is really meaningless, and perhaps only purpose it serves is to put some "drama" to this boring article.
Why don't you write what a waste of tax-payers money the whole ordeal is?

"You produced cannabis which has a street value of over £2,000 pounds."

If it was for his personal use, what is the point in saying that? Are you worried that he grew his own and the "street" lost £2,000 in tax-free revenue?

From what i see the whole law enforcement system built upon prohibition is to protect illegal drug trade.”

“Why don't we try taking a completely new approach to cannabis? In Britain, 30% of us use cannabis in our lifetime, three million people use it at least once per month and we consume more than three tonnes every day. The idea that we can prevent people using it is nonsense.
We waste billions every year on police, court and prison resources when a large proportion of society uses cannabis without any problem at all. In fact, the only real problem with cannabis is that it's illegal.

The risks to health are very small - much, much less than alcohol or tobacco. Professor Terrie Moffitt of the Institute of Psychiatry said recently that cannabis is "safe for over 18s". If we took responsibility and introduced a tax and regulate system we could protect children far more effectively than we do at present.

We could have a properly regulated supply chain with no criminals involved, no theft of electricity, no human trafficking, no destruction of property and disruption of neighbourhoods. Then there would be some control over this huge market. There would be thousands of new jobs, sales would be from licensed outlets to adults only with guaranteed quality and safety. Then our police could start going after some real wrongdoing instead of trying to fight a crime that exists only because of a misguided government policy.

Also, very importantly, science now proves that cannabis is one of the safest and most effective medicines for a wide range of conditions. While the government promotes the lie that "there is no medicinal value in cannabis", it has granted an unlawful monopoly to GW Pharmaceuticals to grow 20 tonnes a year for, you guessed it, medicine!

Cannabis Law Reform (CLEAR) published independent research last year that shows a cannabis tax and regulate policy would provide a boost to the UK economy of up to £9.3 billion pa as well as reducing all health and social harms.

The only thing that keeps the present absurd status quo in place is weak politicians corrupted by Big Booze and the GW Pharma monopoly.”

“YAY 'in' before the BIG RED KEY man,”