£722k dope farm mastermind locked up (From Ledbury Reporter)

Incredible. If local government and quite a few private sector companies were run that well, I suspect our economic and infrastructure woes would be over.

Without wishing to comment on this particular case or person, though - this seems to be the second case recently where a criminal or suspect has engaged in activities which require a high degree of intelligence, but it turns out that they are autistic, apparently.

I mean absolutely no disrepect for the genuinely autistic, and I am making no comment on any specific individual.

But isn't there a possibility that intelligent criminals might find it advantageous to be perceived as autistic?

the drug factory had been run “with great skill” and had a potential yield of 72 kilogrammes a year.


praise indeed, thats an impressive yield :-)


Its pretty boring nowadays reading the usual daily mail reefer madness about cannabis.

Truth is its less harmful than alcohol, in fact i dont think a single death has been attributed to cannabis, but the government still waste millions up on millions trying to send a false message to people about cannabis.

legalise, decriminalise and cannabis will become quite an earner for the Uk government the same as it is for the Netherlands :-)

I feel for this guy. Nobody knows if he is genuinly autistic or not only doctors and i think the judges sentence is harsh. He may have been coerced into growing them for a dealer as that is the kind of thing thugs/dealers do and then take the wrap for them fearful of what might happen if he spoke freely.

Just think if Cannabis was regulated he could have grown under license and sold legitamtely to a coffee shop or Med store. He would have made some money and paid tax helping put money back into the community while keeping cannabis of the streets, out of schools and in a safe environment. He would have also avoided jail time saving the tax payer more money and freeing up our prisons for real criminals. Keep people safe from dangerous criminals Tax and Regulate

Why don't we try taking a completely new approach to cannabis? In Britain, 30% of us use cannabis in our lifetime, three million people use it at least once per month and we consume more than three tonnes every day. The idea that we can prevent people using it is nonsense.

We waste billions every year on police, court and prison resources when a large proportion of society uses cannabis without any problem at all. In fact, the only real problem with cannabis is that it's illegal.

The risks to health are very small - much, much less than alcohol or tobacco. Professor Terrie Moffitt of the Institute of Psychiatry said recently that cannabis is "safe for over 18s". If we took responsibility and introduced a tax and regulate system we could protect children far more effectively than we do at present.

We could have a properly regulated supply chain with no criminals involved, no theft of electricity, no human trafficking, no destruction of property and disruption of neighbourhoods. Then there would be some control over this huge market. There would be thousands of new jobs, sales would be from licensed outlets to adults only with guaranteed quality and safety. Then our police could start going after some real wrongdoing instead of trying to fight a crime that exists only because of a misguided government policy.

Also, very importantly, science now proves that cannabis is one of the safest and most effective medicines for a wide range of conditions. While the government promotes the lie that "there is no medicinal value in cannabis", it has granted an unlawful monopoly to GW Pharmaceuticals to grow 20 tonnes a year for, you guessed it, medicine!

Cannabis Law Reform (CLEAR) published independent research last year that shows a cannabis tax and regulate policy would provide a boost to the UK economy of up to £9.3 billion pa as well as reducing all health and social harms.

The only thing that keeps the present absurd status quo in place is weak politicians corrupted by Big Booze and the GW Pharma monopoly.

Nice round number that, £10,000 / kilo.

The only crime here in my eyes is abstraction of electricity.

That and the upcoming theft by the state of his assets under POCA.

More Tea Vicar wrote:
Incredible. If local government and quite a few private sector companies were run that well, I suspect our economic and infrastructure woes would be over.

Without wishing to comment on this particular case or person, though - this seems to be the second case recently where a criminal or suspect has engaged in activities which require a high degree of intelligence, but it turns out that they are autistic, apparently.

I mean absolutely no disrepect for the genuinely autistic, and I am making no comment on any specific individual.

But isn't there a possibility that intelligent criminals might find it advantageous to be perceived as autistic?

Autistic people are VERY clever, easily led but Very clever.

Not all laws are there to protect or help us. Many reasons why cannabis was prohibited. Mostly vested interested and the fear of hemp production for logging companies in America, and Cotton farmers in Egypt. A lot of why it was outlawed had a lot to do with control, prejudice and racism. It had nothing at all to do with the effect from smoking cannabis. Alcohol prohibition had built an infrastructure, so when prohibition came to an end, many people including Harry Anslinger where going to be out of work. So working together with William Randolf Hearst, (a racist, owner of a huge chain of newspapers and had invested heavily in the timber industry to support his newspaper chain and didnt want to see the development of hemp paper in competition) they started the 'reefer-madness' campaign. Some quotes from Anslinger, an example of the propaganda -

the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races

You smoke a joint and your likely to kill your brother

Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind

There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others

Years and years of lies and propaganda have left the public misinformed and scared. The 'reefer madness' propaganda still exists, we see it in the Daily Mail all the time. So cannabis wasnt outlawed because it may have a small potential for harm when abused by an underdeveloped brain, it was everything to do with Money, vested interest and lies, and nothing to do with harm reduction. In fact, prohibiting cannabis has caused many more problems, harms and dangers than the cannabis itself. Simply by disallowing regulation gifting the control to the only people in society will taking to take a risk for freedom, criminals.

Why is cannabis still illegal today, even though we should have learnt our lesson from alcohol prohibition?

Vested Interest, Corrupt/Cowardly politicians, Propaganda and misinformation, The pressure from the alcohol lobby, GWpharma (who grow cannabis in Kent), the people getting paid thanks to prohibition (Alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical companies, drug testing companies, i could go on...) and of course, personal prejudices. Im not saying cannabis is harmless, but compared to aspirin, its MUCH safer. Its a medicine, and has been considered a medicine a lot longer than its been considered a street drug. No one would consider any psychoactive substance 'safe', but compared to alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceuticals, its so much safer for responsible adults to use.

''im fairly confident that cannabis is safe for over-18 brains, but risky for under-18 brains'' - Professor Terrie Moffitt, Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, 2012

But the media love to lie about cannabis or any other drug for that matter.

"If a scientist announces their research has found ecstasy to be safer than alcohol, I know my job as a tabloid reporter is to portray this man as a quack." - Richard Peppiatt, Daily Star reporter, the Leveson inquiry

We need to take the control away from criminals. Undercutting prices and bringing it into a regulated market will see a decline in criminals selling it and children buying it. When a country regulates cannabis, drug use goes down and age of first use goes up. 99% of associated crimes decline. Prohibition has always done the opposite of what its meant to. Its a failed experiment having nothing to do with Expert advice, scientific evidence or our health and safety. Just say No to prohibition, it causes more harm than cannabis ever could.

Give him a licence to garden his cannabis (like the one given to GW Pharma) and then he would pay £120,000 pa in tax - he's not dangerous. Or put him inside and spend £200,000 keeping him there. Economics gone mad by a loony government of out of touch toffs.

Paranoid old men keep
marijuana illegal and
make our children LESS safe.

the drug laws are a waste of time, the government and police know it and most people when they consider it know it.
I don't smoke pot anymore because it made me lazy but thats about it health wise.

Oh, by the way, doesn't cannabis fight the symptoms of Autism? Just like the THC fights cancer and the CBD fights psychotic symptoms?

SuperSilverSourDiese
l wrote:
Oh, by the way, doesn't cannabis fight the symptoms of Autism? Just like the THC fights cancer and the CBD fights psychotic symptoms?

Cannot fight symptoms of autism, have to tickle them to death with cannabis flowers.

Thank you for remembering :)

Cannabis for Autism on Facebook people!

Cannabis4Autism wrote:

SuperSilverSourDiese

l wrote:
Oh, by the way, doesn't cannabis fight the symptoms of Autism? Just like the THC fights cancer and the CBD fights psychotic symptoms?

Cannot fight symptoms of autism, have to tickle them to death with cannabis flowers.

Thank you for remembering :)

Cannabis for Autism on Facebook people!

haha

keep fighting the good fight. :)

"One of the houses in Wordsworth Green, Malvern, had been left to Townsend by his mother." Why confiscate this ? Surely having a home will bring more stability to his life. This could be the making of a homeless vagrant by the state. Hypocrites .

Legalise it. Don't criticise it.

"Mr Hodgkinson said he would lose all three properties he owned after a confiscation hearing to be held at a later date. "

I can't believe his lawyer is actually agreeing that the property his mother left him should be stolen by the state as proceeds of crime. Surely his mother bought it and passed it on to him? He will need some proper representation at that hearing, not someone on the side of the man.

Illogik wrote:
"One of the houses in Wordsworth Green, Malvern, had been left to Townsend by his mother." Why confiscate this ? Surely having a home will bring more stability to his life. This could be the making of a homeless vagrant by the state. Hypocrites .

Bit odd that she left it too him whilst she is still alive !

onelifeliveit wrote:

Illogik wrote:
"One of the houses in Wordsworth Green, Malvern, had been left to Townsend by his mother." Why confiscate this ? Surely having a home will bring more stability to his life. This could be the making of a homeless vagrant by the state. Hypocrites .

Bit odd that she left it too him whilst she is still alive !

The report doesn't state whether she had passed away or is still alive, so why are you assuming she is still alive?

Plenty of people give away their assets before they pass on so what is so odd about this case?

I suppose he will get social housing when he gets out rather than a house he currently owns.