I have been a police officer in a busy inner-city area for 12
years, and I am sick of the double standards that exist in our
society.

Alcohol is a socially accepted drug, so therefore there is no
outcry about the cost of alcohol abuse to society. In my line of
employment I see the social cost of alcohol abuse, the high
incidence of domestic violence, the pub fights, the innocent
people attacked by drunks, the criminal damage caused by drunks,
and the assaults on my colleagues by those influenced by drink.

I see no such problems with cannabis. None of my colleagues has
been assaulted by anyone high on cannabis. I have not been to any
pub fight due to people high on cannabis.

I remain unconvinced of the link between cannabis and hard drugs
as I find it hard to distinguish between cannabis and tobacco.
One is socially accepted and one is not, and we are well aware of
the health risks, and the cost to the NHS of the socially
accepted drug.

Personally I have never used cannabis, but I have friends and
colleagues that regularly use it, and none of them has been
hooked into a drug culture.

The police do not have the resources to adequately deal with the
levels of cannabis use. Let us decriminalise it and concentrate
on the real evils in our society: hard drugs and alcohol abuse.

Police Sergeant
Name witheld