Parents 'complacent' about teenagers' use of cannabis

Oct 15 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

PARENTS are naive and complacent about the widespread use of cannabis among teenagers, a senior Merseyside police officer has warned.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said adults did not understand that new, more potent forms of the drug were available, and harming young people.

The body was speaking out after a mother was sentenced last week for giving her children cannabis to stop them buying the drug from street dealers.

Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: “I think frankly there is a group of parents that are complacent and turn a blind eye to drug use in the sense of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and in turning that blind eye, they are creating a deeper mess because we are worried about the rise in potency of the cannabis on the streets.”

Mr Byrne, drugs spokesman for Acpo, said the organisation was reviewing its stance on lobbying for cannabis to be upgraded from a Class-C drug, but his personal view was that it should become a Class-B substance, as it was up to five times stronger than in the 1980s.

He said studies showed around one in five teenagers had tried the drug.

“A key message today is about the harm that cannabis can cause, and the need for better education both for young people and their parents,” he said.

Primary school teaching assistant Nicola Cooper, from Ixworth, Suffolk, escaped jail last week after she admitted supplying cannabis to her children, aged 18 and 20.

The 43-year-old told magistrates she did not want them to be exposed to dealers. After the hearing, she said she regretted breaking the law, but compared herself to other parents who provided their children with cigarettes or alcohol.

Earlier this year, Merseyside chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe warned that cannabis producers were now opting to grow the drug in this country rather than import it from abroad.

Mr Hogan-Howe said: “These cultivation centres are increasingly run by organised gangs. It is a lot more profitable to grow the drug in this country than import it.

“They are essentially cutting out the middle men, the transportation costs and maximising their profits.”

Mr Hogan-Howe also called on the building trade to report their suspicions about tradesmen who could be rigging up the houses.

He added: “The factories are professional jobs done for good money. There is some evidence that the contractors are travelling around the country making these installations.”

The force has seized millions of pounds worth of cannabis in the last year.

OPINION: PAGE 10