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See other news storiesCannabis co-ordinator announced
26 September 2008
The new Cannabis Co-ordinator, former Chief Superintendent Mark Matthews, has been appointed, the Home Office and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have announced. He is tasked with detecting and disrupting organised criminals who supply cannabis
The appointment of Mark Matthews comes as the government will soon begin the parliamentary process to reclassify cannabis to be a Class B drug over concerns of the prevalence and strength of more harmful forms of cannabis, i.e. skunk, along with trends towards cannabis production linked to organised criminal gangs.
Based in Merseyside, with a national remit, Matthews will:
- identify patterns in cannabis cultivation and co-ordinate cross border investigations by working with police units across the country to detect developing trends such as gangs growing cannabis in rented accommodation
- liaise with law enforcement agencies to help share good practice in detecting cannabis farms, such as using infrared equipment that could detect where cannabis is being grown
- clarify the scale of the problem by researching cannabis cultivation trends across England and Wales
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said ‘I welcome the appointment of Mark Matthews as our Cannabis Co-ordinator. Mark will help to ensure that we have a consistently robust enforcement approach to tackling large scale cannabis cultivation and help to put away the organised criminal gangs who seek to profit from this illegal harmful activity.
Matthews said ‘The harm to neighbourhoods that is increasingly associated with illegal cultivation and trade in cannabis provides a challenge for law enforcement within the United Kingdom. The police service is responding to that challenge, with more raids on cannabis farms than we have seen previously and a tougher approach to policing cannabis on the street. We now want to step up action against the organised crime networks that are involved in the cannabis trade.
‘I would ask property rental companies, landlords and local residents to be vigilant and to report any suspicious circumstances in confidence to their local police station or to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.’
The government continues to carry out tough enforcement against cannabis use. Latest statistics show there were 114,502 cannabis seizures in 2005 alone. More recently, during National Tackling Drugs Week, 89 cannabis farms were disrupted while over 1,500 people were arrested for drug offences.
