Cannabis Myth or Legend?

At the Area 6 committee meeting on Wednesday and the Area 5 Committee on Monday, I raised a concern about the growing issue of Cannabis smoking in local parks. Unless I am imagining - I see young people from a variety of backgrounds, ages and cultures - are now openly smoking in our local parks. Drug dealers are using these venues as the trading place of choice to recruit new users and to traffic to their incumbent clientele.

I am an ex-drug user and battled hard to loose my addiction, hence I am aware of the potential long and short term effects of any substance misuse. Essentially for the purposes of this post I will concentrate on cannabis.

Symptoms such as paranoia, depression, lethargy and fits of rage are not uncommon amongst users. Moreover dangerous situations such as hyperventilation, panic attacks, and the lifestyle changes an addiction can bring, affect both users and those in their vicinity or emotionally tied.

Our Parks Police Team Chief Mr Boylin was very dismissive about the concern, stating that only 130 reported incidents had been received since 2006. I would argue that this is more due to apathy of reporting – as any undercover operation in South Park would pick up a group of over 10 boys in South Park smoking “weed” and “skunk” in or about the “central” cricket pitch.

Furthermore, two teenage work experience students working at my offices confirmed that South Park is a regular haunt for “pot” smokers…? Mr Boylin even went as far as to state that the 9 Cannabis related arrests in South Park from March till now, were just a “blip”? Bizarrely, Mr Boylin advised us that South Park is not one of the parks that has a high frequency of Cannabis smoking reports? Clearly the issue is endemic and it is catch and report rates that are low indicating systemic concerns. Besides, in my capacity as a local NHW Coordinator a large amount of the reported crime I receive, is related to cannabis smoking in this very same park? Moreover, with parents preventing children using our parks, fearing their children might be attacked by users in drug fuelled revellry, or caught in the trap of drug addiction from the pushers preying on young impressionable minds -openly walking these formerly safe areas. Could it be surmised that the reduced use of our parks has resulted in less frequent reporting?

In the Area 6 and 5 meetings I had suggested that boroughwide signage in our parks could be used to highlight the Class B status of Cannabis and that any perpetrators of this illegal act could be arrested fined or even imprisoned. The signs could also have incorporated the Police National non-emergency telephone number 0300 123 1212 and the Parks police telephone number which would hopefully induce better community citizenship and reporting. This ownership inducing programme would culminate in better stats vis-à-vis the propensity of such crime, a better deterrent against the crime itself and improved local quality of life derived from better arrests rates and targeted Parks/MET Police approaches.

Conversations with MET police sergeants indicate that my idea would be a viable and welcomed one. I strongly believe if our Parks Police recognised this pervading social malaise as one that threatens the long term quality of life for local residents - they too would support the scheme.

The trite response received regarding this proposal is echoed in the comments made by Mr Boylin when he jested that it was a shame that retrospective penalty notices could not be provided, as my confession would have made me liable. This is true, however I was aware of the Class B status of cannabis smoking which is not so apparent in the existing generation due to governemental prevarication. There are many who may not be aware that the Class C status has now been abrogated with a return to Class B for Cannabis use. Moreover, in my youth, young people held a fear of those in authority– I never smoked in open public areas, which is not a defence, but would explain why officers such as Mr Boylin himself, who would have been with the met at the time, did not arrest me.

With our Met Police no longer responsible for the parks – could it be that the relative insouciant nature of our Parks Police team has led to the demise of our public spaces….?

Your comments please.......