“Cannabis farm” police vehicle. Pic: Kate Southern
A police vehicle equipped with a mock “cannabis farm” has been circulating the Langdon Park area in Poplar, Tower Hamlets, last week. The mobile cannabis factory presented various tools for growing marijuana such as lamps, fans and cables, all of which were seized during previous drug raids.
Although no actual plants were physically present in the car, the police compensated with wallpaper imagery of the plants. Passersby were invited for a tour inside the “farm”, where details of cannabis production were given alongside advice on how to report drug suspects to the police.
Poplar HARCA Housing, a registered social landlord which owns and manages around 9,000 homes in Poplar, joined forced with the police to tackle drug-dealing. The tour was arranged for the company’s 50 employees from the ABS (Anti Social Behaviour) team.
Jamie Lock, Head of ASB, said: “We know that cannabis use and cultivation is a big concern for our residents. This was a great opportunity for our staff and residents to find out more about what to look out for, and who to talk to.”
Jamie Lock with a police officer. Pic: Poplar Harca
“We’re very grateful to the Met for supporting us with this,” Lock added. “Everyone came away having learned something new – including me.”
The mock cannabis farm is part of Operation Hawk, a London-wide initiative to tackle drugs. The ‘weed factory’ vehicle, will also travel around other parts of Tower Hamlets.
We need to stop this stupid and unwinnable war against cannabis. It is causing far more harm to our communities than it prevents. If we had a properly regulated system of production and supply we’d have no more illegal and dangerous cannabis farms causing fires and blighting communities. Instead we’d have thousands of new jobs. We’d have no more dealers on the streets. Cannabis would be available to adults only through licensed outlets and we’d have some control over its content and who it is sold to.
Doctors would be able to prescribe one of the most effective medicines that has no serious side effects at all. At the moment the government has given GW Pharmaceuticals an unlawful monopoly on cannabis so they make millions out of a medicine that anyone can grow at home for pennies.
If we introduced a legally regulated system we would solve nearly all the problems around cannabis. Science proves how much safer it is than tobacco, alcohol, prescription medicines and all other recreational drugs. If anyone does have a problem with it they could get help without having to confess to a crime.
CLEAR published independent, expert research in 2011 which shows that a tax and regulate policy on cannabis would produce a net gain to the UK economy of up to £9.3 billion per annum.
It is a scandal that our government, our judges, our courts, our police and our newspapers keep misleading us about cannabis. Find out the truth for yourself. A huge disinformation campaign funded mainly by the alcohol industry has been misleading the British people for more than 50 years.
What a waste of police time! Legalisation of cannabis would stop unsafe growing operations overnight, allowing police to focus on catching real criminals instead of trying to get locals to rat on their neighbours. Time to legalise, regulate and tax.
CLEAR Media Team
Cannabis Law Reform
Are you joking?? What an insane waste of money. Equipping a whole van?? That could be being used to stop real crime that actually causes people harm? What’s the point in spending the 3 billion a year on police drug prevention – the cannabis market is worth 6 – 9 billion a year and demand is not going to stop, we might as well regulate it, earning some much needed tax, and ave on ridiculous actions like this.
“we know that cannabis use and cultivation is a big concern for our residents.”
only because half of them probably use the drug and it is of no harm whatsoever. this country needs to adopt a different policy on drugs as the benefits sometimes outweigh the costs
What an utter waste of resources. Words actually fail me this time round.
i find this truly offensive. Are Government is coming to a peak of a financial crisis, Closing Hospitals, slashing benefits, but yet it continues to spend millions of pounds on a drugs policy aimed at harming people and not helping them, the reason these farms are their is because of the criminal market. A market they create. Cannabis is a cash crop and Criminal Gangs (Im talking organized crime not hippy john in his basement), will use the vast sums of money created fund other criminal activities. Now this is were the problem lies. We all know cannabis is harmless within reason and im not going to push that fact, but the matter is the criminal empire created by cannabis prohibition is the problem, not the medicine itself. The Government has created a viscous monopoly where cannabis is almost worth its weight in gold, and the only way to target this is for public opinion to change and for people to break out of a propaganda induced mental state, and wake up to the fact cannabis is no more harmful than tea or coffee.
Thankyou
Bob Ross (We dont make mistakes We make happy accidents)
It’s seems to me more like Cannabis Cultivation School.
“Lock added. “Everyone came away having learned something new – including me.””
It is an absolute disgrace that Police staff, paid for with your taxes, waste their time and resources that YOU paid for, continuing this ridiculous prohibition of Cannabis.
Any educated person would see through the folly of such actions.
The time for legalization and taxation of Cannabis, removing the supply of it away from the criminal underclass, and into the hand of professional and responsible suppliers that do not sell to children.
edit to my last post ….
I was so infuriated by what I read in this article, I forgot to add the phrase ( and end my post ) with ” is long overdue !
It may be a good idea to add an ‘ Edit Post ‘ button on your comments section.
Utterly ridiculous, waste of time and money, this is what taxes are being spent on? So when people snitch on people growing cannabis, you’ve got another problem where that snitch gets beaten up, or worse
This countries people and government need to wake up and legalise it, crime rates would go down, more money would be generated
And REAL criminals like murderers, rapists, and burglers could be concentrated on me instead of draining resources driving around in a silly van