Police officers say cannabis is effectively ‘decriminalised’ in the UK

[u/RandomUsername1604]

https://www.leafie.co.uk/news/police-cannabis-decriminalised-survey/

[u/lxgrf]

Thing is effectively decriminalising by not going after consumers is kind of the worst of both worlds. The real problem is and has always been the organised crime groups growing and distributing. Legalisation takes the power and the profit away from them. This doesn't.

Plus selective enforcement leads to discriminatory enforcement.

[u/RandomUsername1604 → u/lxgrf]

Yeah there was a report showing that the police still like to use 'smell of cannabis' to stop and search young black and asian males disproportionately, so I guess its only effectively decriminalised when the cops can't be arsed with the paperwork.

[u/Chalkun → u/RandomUsername1604]

to stop and search young black and asian males disproportionately

Id love to see how it correlates with crime areas though. Stop and search is naturally going to be concentrated in higher crime areas, which tend to be poorer areas which are disproportionately ethnic minority. It would be racist to target black people, it isnt racist to target high crime areas which happen to be mostly black or asian. Or of course in bigger cities there is larger police presence in terms of numbers anyway, and cities tend to be more ethnic minority regardless. Its obvious rural people in sussex are not going to be stop and searched anywhere near as much so theyre going to skew the figures again since theyre almost entirely white.

Its also worth noting that stop and search has a success rate of around 25% iirc, which is the target figure. Which suggests the police use this power about as much as they ought, and with decent justifications, in line with the legal guidance given to them.

[u/R_Lau_18 → u/Chalkun]

Its also worth noting that stop and search has a success rate of around 25%

No it doesn't. I've seen it endlessly justified under "anti-knife crime" auspices, but you very rarely hear of anyone bejn found with a knife.

Jacking someone for cannabis or cocaine possession when you are looking for knives is not in fact a successful search.

[u/Chalkun → u/R_Lau_18]

No it doesn't. I've seen it endlessly justified under "anti-knife crime" auspices, but you very rarely hear of anyone bejn found with a knife.

Jacking someone for cannabis or cocaine possession when you are looking for knives is not in fact a successful search

Well how youve heard it justified isnt really all that relevant, its a general crime fighting tool and finding class A drugs is not a failed search. Can always move the goalposts.

Knives arent actually all that common anyway so finding them is always going to be rare. The ideal is to find some sure, but moreso to make people less comfortable about going around with a knife day to day. They need to feel at risk of being caught with it, all evidence points to feeling likely to be caught being the best deterrent to any crime.

[u/Pabus_Alt → u/Chalkun]

finding class A drugs is not a failed search.

Waste of everyone's time maybe.