Smoke on the hill Part 4, by James O'Fee

Continued from Part 3:

The local newspaper gives more details of the police raid on Raglan Road last week;-

a) It names the man arrested as "Chien Zhong of Raglan Road", charged at a special sitting of Ards Magistrate's Court on Saturday 20th December, with "cultivating a cannabis plant, possession of cannabis with intent to supply, and resisting a constable at Raglan Road, Bangor, on December 10". The man was remanded into custody to appear via video link at Newtownards today (18th). Before these details emerged, curiously a friend asked me whether the man charged was Chinese. I didn't know at the time but such would appear to be the case.

b) The report claims that police seized over one thousand cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £500,000 - well up on previous estimates of 400 plants. In my calculation, that gives a value of £500 per plant.

c) The report tells us that the raid and arrest only took place because of the observations made on Thursday 10th by neighbourhood police as they conducted an "anti-burglarary foot patrol". You do see, occasionally, a pair of police on foot patrol through the area. The police chief said that the raid was "an enormous logistical task when dealing with such a large amount of plants [sic] and associated equipment".

There is no mention of the house number, Number 2, as is normal in criminal cases, nor of its title as "The Rectory" (still to be seen on the gate post), nor of the fact that the property is owned by the Church of Ireland and was only let to the charged man.

The report quotes various fatuous comments by local Democratic Unionist Councillors. One is quoted as saying -

"The war on drugs must be pursued with vigour."

The trouble with wars is that they can be lost as well as won. Such has been the fate of the "war on drugs". "Drugs Czars" have come and gone, yet cannabis, as well as a wide range of recreational and hard drugs, remain readily available on the street of our town and everywhere else. It's time to run up the White Flag in this "war".

Another Councillor opines -

"The disastrous effects of drugs in our community shows how welcome action such as this is. These drugs, as well as being a passport drug to even more deadly substances, have a clear long term detrimental effect on the health of those who use them."

Many things have a "clear long term detrimental effect on health". Obesity has a such an effect. Fast food has such an effect. Does the Councillor want to ban fast food? We know that the drugs which cause the greatest damage to our society are alcohol and tobacco. Are these to be banned as well?

Links

Part 1 Friday, December 11. 2009

Part 2 Saturday, December 12. 2009

Part 3 Monday, December 14. 2009