Such As, Brian?

Police hunting for people who use small amounts of cannabis is a waste of scarce resources, and diverts officers from tackling much more serious criminals, a former police chief has said.

Who is advancing this viewpoint? 

Brian Paddick was a senior Metropolitan police officer who in 2001 pioneered the limited decriminalisation of cannabis in a pilot scheme in Lambeth, south London. His comments come after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, backed calls for the partial decriminalisation of cannabis possession.

Aha - someone with experience then? 

Paddick said officers would spend hours processing cannabis arrests that would result in minor punishment, such as a caution or conditional discharge: “We were wasting a lot of money for something that was not a priority at the time. He added: “80% of local people were in favour of the effective decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use.”

I've no doubt, but we aren’t going to import the customs of the ethnics as well as the ethnics themselves, Brisn, are we?

He denied that limited decriminalisation amounted to going soft on drugs: “When I was in Lambeth there were a lot more important things police needed to spend their time on and it was doing a lot of damage to police community relations. “The policing of small amounts of cannabis is disproportionately focused on young Black men. I think the argument that cannabis is a gateway drug is no longer considered to be a credible theory.”

Well, Brian, be that as it may. but the waft of cannabis emanating from my fellow morning Tube commuters often seems to come from white or mixed race men adorned with hi-vis and carrying safety helmets, which I'm sure even you'd have to agree is somewhat alarming, surely?