UK & World News
- 30 April 2012, 10:54
Police Find 20 Cannabis Farms Every Day
Police discovered more than 20 cannabis farms and factories every day last year, seizing drugs that could sell for £100m on the streets, according to new figures.
A total of 7,865 farms were found across the UK in 2011/12 - up 15% from 6,866 in 2009/10 and more than a 150% increase on the figure four years ago.
In the two years since the last report by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), some 1.1 million plants with a street value of £207.4m have been discovered.
The number of offences related to cannabis production is also increasing, up from 14,982 in 2010/11 to 16,464 last year.
Police chiefs say the size and scale of cannabis-growing operations are reducing as criminals spread the risk and use so-called "gardeners" to manage small sites in residential areas.
Scotland Yard Commander Allan Gibson, the lead on cannabis cultivation for the police chiefs, said: "Commercial cannabis cultivation continues to pose a significant risk to the UK.
"Increasing numbers of organised crime groups are diverting into this area of criminality but we are determined to continue to disrupt such networks and reduce the harm caused by drugs.
"This profile provides a detailed analysis of the current threat from commercial cultivation of cannabis and the work undertaken by law enforcement agencies to combat the threat."
The highest number of farms - 936 - were found in the West Yorkshire force area, with the equivalent of 42 factories per 100,000 people, according to the Acpo figures.
South Yorkshire had 851 farms but there were 64 per 100,000 people, giving it the highest ratio in the UK.
The West Midlands had 663 farms, the Metropolitan Police 608 farms and Avon and Somerset 653 farms.
Devon and Cornwall saw the highest rise in farms discovered since the last report, up 1,664% from 11 in 2009/10 to 183 in 2011/12.
what do you think?
Michael Mcardle
i think it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that we are simply never going to stop the use of cannabis . infact as statistics show its use is only ever going to grow. therefore the cultivating is going to become more widespread. being an ex cannabis user myself i cant assure people that it is a lot more harmless than alcahol . yet what are we doing about the misuse of that. making it cheaper and easier to get a hold of. wether it be in large supermarkets or indeed every corner shop in the land, its time for a radical rethink into cannabis. but like everything else that really matters this out of touch government just shrug their shoulders and ignore it
Andrea Hill
Harmless u are havn a laf.go and work on a psychiatric ward!!!!
Julie Doughty
Erm, Michael did say he CANT assure you its more harmless than Alcohol Andrea!! Totally agree with you Michael, alcohol is so cheap and easy to get hold off but the Goverment wont do nowt cos its easy money for them!!!
Michael Mcardle
thank you julie , dont know about psychiatric wards but tell you what andrea you take a stroll down to your local A&E.ward on any friday or saterday night and witness the carnage created by alcahol consumption
Ron Cheetham
keep up finding them !
Bill Will Green
Here, here
Stephen Dee
Why waste Police time and resources chasing after cannabis farmers? It's interesting that they use such a sweeping term as reducing the "harm" caused by "drugs". I could see the need for this term if we're discussing cocaine or heroin but cannabis? Cannabis over the years has been know to have as many bennificial uses as some medicines. If the Police are going to invest time and resources in reducing "harm" they shouild be focussing on the hard stuff and alchohol related crime - not chasing an increasingly popular and far less "harmful" substance that really isn't causing any harm at all in the grand scheme of society's difficulties.
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John Rooney
I'm sorry, Stephen, but I have to disagree. I was a cannabis user for over 30 years, having convinced myself it was a 'harmless' drug. It maybe isn't as potentially destructive as, say, alcohol or heroin but, in my case, made me depressed, demotivated and paranoid. The good news is there is no physical dependency so quitting is simply a matter of willpower. In my case, this meant distancing myself from my friends who were all fellow users. I had a lot of good times when I was stoned but as much as liked hash it just didn't like me. having said all that, the 'war' on cannabis is futile. It would be better to legalise it, sell it from government licensed outlets and use the tax revenues to tackle the likes of heroin and crack dealing.
Bill Will Green
No matter how you look at it, it's still ILLEGAL and is still a drug, with far too many addicts (yes it IS addictive). It stinks to high heaven and causes so much 'laziness' in users who can't be bothered to get up and go to work. They would rather grow a few plants in the loft and 'earn' their money from dealing, oh and while claiming benefits too. The effort on finding dealers/growers MUST carry on, and cause as much hassle as possible for these low lifes.
Criss Nash
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Julie Doughty
Not everybody claiming benifits are dealers and on drugs you idiot. I think you would be shocked to find out just how many people in very high profile jobs are dealers and smoke the stuff....trust me, I know a lot of people , it would make your hair curl!!!!
Tricky One
Nonsense mate.
Bill Will Green
Obviously, I seem to have hit a nerve with a few 'smokers' here. The fact there maybe 'high profile' dealers/users doen't make it right! It is this knid of, so called, low level crime that just eats away at society. If this was legalised, how long before heroin or crack was being touted as 'benificial' and should be legalised? We already have a generation of lazy workshy chavs, making it acceptable by allowing these drugs is just plain stupid. Even the open minded dutch, are changing the laws on 'legal' use of cannabis. They have realised it's not acceptable either!
Martin Beadle
next to alcohol + tobacco, the harm cannabis causes is negligible. feel free to continue busting cannabis farms, but dont tell me its not hypocritical. if you were to tell me these farms are getting busted because the govt doesnt get any £££ out of it I'd be more inclined to believe you
Elvin Eastwood
if it was made legal then criminals could not be making money from it.
David Wragg
Make sure the EU's Common Agricultural Policy is extended to cover these farms, and they'll soon be in trouble and have to close.
Criss Nash
excessive use of alcohol as we all know causes violent behaviour, tabbacco causes resperatory problems and is linked to cancer yet both these are legal to use. cannabis users dont start fights as the effects makes them relaxed and has proven medicinal prospects particularly for people suffering from the effects of cancer and MS to name but a few. the police are wasteing thier time as there are more people growing small amounts of cannabis plants at home for thier own use and not for making money from. HEMP which is the british name for cannabis was grown readily in this country at one time and was the main component in paper making and for the making of sacks so it has been more than just a recreational drug. theres more nastier stuff out there that should have the police working on but yet they waste all this time and money on stopping something that has proven more beneficial than it has anything else. look at the millions lost from illegal tabbaco importing for example.
Adrian Wagstaff
I'm not too certain if the rest of what I was reading does or does not refer to ... 30,000 wild cannabis plants having been discovered ... in some ... unspecified-by-me ... country ... during an also unspecified-by-me ... decade. Aha! ... Do any animals, insects or birrrds ... consume cannabis plants like panda bears consume bamboo shoots? ... I don't know, I'll 'ave a browse. I don't know much at all about drugs, to be honest. I just wondered if people suddenly destroy 30,000 wild cannabis plants how that might affect wild animals, insects or birds. It appears from random browsing and not very reliable sources, insects and a lot of animals, according to these not-totally-trustworthy-by-me-sources-however-I-don't-really-doubt-the-possility that they are correct, appear to be eating some kind of classified as drug plants in the wild. I am wondering about it all from a natural ecological perspective, is what. Some people seem to suggest it is illegal to do so. However, nature, itself is doing the same thing? The laws seem very different in all the countries.
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djomen
go and spend police time and millions of pounds on busting pubs and clubs, alcohol is just as bad if not worse oh ye the goverment can make lots of money off alcohol regardless of its effects
Tricky One
Organised crime must be prevented. Small scale private growing should be tollerated.
Baker101
Why is this a surprise? Just goes to show how out of touch and clueless the government are if they are shocked by these figures. I'm more surprised that they actually found the cannabis farms as people seem to do it for years without getting caught. Everyone in the working class knows how widely available this stuff is.
Windows Live User
Think of the tax Osbourne could get on that !!
Julie Crumpton
Do they not use cannabis as a legal medicine? Cant see them using alcohol or fags for medicine! I know im being a bit flippant, but its a very nice looking plant, i have never used it, smoked or anything, but is it really that bad?
Mr Tibbs
Sorry! thought this was a 'come gardening programme!you can'r stop weeds growing.
Rhys Sage
2:02am on 30/4/2012
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