The cannabis factory discovered in Brislington, Bristol
Cannabis plants worth £1.5million have been found at a trading estate in Bristol, Avon and Somerset police said yesterday.
More than 2,800 cannabis plants had been hidden in an industrial unit at the Newbridge Trading estate in Brislington.
Police said the cannabis factory was ”very sophisticated” and “highly organised”, adding the discovery would have a major impact on the supply of the drug in Bristol.
“This was a very sophisticated set up and a highly organised production site,” said the force’s drugs strategy manager Paul Bunt.
“All of these plants will now been destroyed and will not reach some of the most vulnerable members of our society. We will now seek to place those responsible for their cultivation before the courts.
“Cannabis is seen by some as a lower level drug but we take it very seriously. The cannabis trade itself is illegal but it can also bring other crime to an area if a factory is located there. I would ask the community to continue to support our work.”
The raid is the latest in a series this year, targeting criminal gangs who cultivate cannabis on a commercial scale. More than 650 cannabis farms were discovered in the force area last year.
More than 20 cannabis farms and factories were discovered by police across the UK every day last year as they seized drugs which could sell for £100 million on the streets.
I agree with arry.
Listening to the Professor David Nutt (who was sacked from the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs by then Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson) on Radio 4 last week, the most harmful drug is alcohol, which costs the UK some £30 bn/year.
Since when did evidence have anything to do with it.
The decision of which crimes to pursue and prosecute (soft drugs) and which crimes to ignore (tax) is a political decision and bears no relationship to the impact the "crime" has on society.
In addition to the above, legalisation would have very beneficial impact on the economy.
However, we can expect every candidate for police commissioner to say they will be "hard" on drugs – despite the evidence.
"Evidence provides no indication that decriminalization leads to a measurable increase in marijuana use."
— Boston University Department of Economics
"There is little evidence that decriminalization of marijuana use necessarily leads to a substantial increase in marijuana use."
— National Academy of Sciences
"The preponderance of the evidence which we have gathered and examined points to the conclusion that decriminalization has had virtually no effect either on the marijuana use or on related attitudes and beliefs about marijuana use among American young people."
— The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research
"The Dutch experience, together with those of a few other countries with more modest policy changes, provides a moderately good empirical case that removal of criminal prohibitions on cannabis possession (decriminalization) will not increase the prevalence of marijuana or any other illicit drug; the argument for decriminalization is thus strong."
— British Journal of Psychiatry