CANNABIS ʻfactoriesʼ in the Burton area have been busted on average once a month over the past year, police figures reveal.
Staffordshire Police has carried out 12 raids on ‘substantial’ commercial cannabis-growing operations at addresses in the town in the past 12 months, which officers say is a significant increase on previous years.
Inspector Jav Oomer, commander of the Burton Neighbourhood Policing Unit, denied that Burton had a drug problem significantly higher than other parts of Staffordshire, and said the rise was partly due to ‘pro-active policing’ and greater vigilance from the public.
He told the Mail: “The number of these kind of operations has increased over the past year but the rest of the county has seen similar numbers, so Burton is no exception.
“It’s very much about being pro-active and targeting these premises before they become established and before the cannabis plants start to create a yield.
“Communities are highlighting these premises to us, enabling us to execute search warrants and to remove these drugs from the community.”
The most recent raid saw drugs with a street value of more than £20,000 seized from a house in Derby Road, Burton, after police received a call about a suspected burglary. The occupants of the house had fled by the time police arrived.
Inspector Oomer said: “The problem we face is that if we go to an address in Stretton they may move on and do the same thing in Branston. Occasionally we do catch people in the premises, but it’s all about disruption and if we can stop these places becoming a drugs stronghold, that’s great.”
In March, the Mail reported that raids on cannabis factories in Staffordshire had more than doubled in the previous five years, rising from 31 to 74 incidents across the county during that period.
The figures are evidence of rising cannabis use, according to Noreen Oliver, founder of Burton Addiction Centre, and a former cannabis user who has been treated for drug and alcohol dependency in the past.
She said: “This is a significant increase and, as with anything else, it reflects the fact that, if there is increased demand for a product, you will see increased trade.”
Mrs Oliver said that demand was fuelled by uncertainty over how safe cannabis was to use, and that the stronger strain of the drug popularly known as skunk was a particular problem.
She said: “I think once again this is about the mixed messages that go out about whether cannabis is safe, but it is a dependent drug and when you are dependent on something your dependency levels go up and you need stronger doses.
“Cannabis is harmful. I smoked it for a couple of years and I experienced dependency, disturbed sleep patterns, irritability and paranoia.”
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