The 'war on drugs' is missing the target. Euan McColm explains

In the “War on Drugs”, cannabis, MDMA, and psilocybin are regarded very much as non-combatants by cops at the frontline. This is something I’ve heard many times before from serving and retired officers, including one full-timer who recently told me he’d retired at a very senior level in the drugs squad without ever having arrested anyone for a crime committed under the influence of those widely used substances.

Every so often TV cameras will be invited to accompany police while they raid and close down a cannabis farm on some grim industrial estate. Whenever I see footage of one of these operations, I don’t cheer on the effectiveness of the law, I wonder what else they could be doing with their time.

The criminal activity around these growing sites that should concern us is not the product but those tending it, who are often trafficked.

By continuing to make cannabis illegal, the Government creates the space (People aren’t going to stop using it. Why would they? It is colossal fun.) for illegal sites where criminal gangs force vulnerable people to work under appalling conditions.

If that raid saved some poor souls, then great, of course it was worthwhile. But the number of marijuana plants will not make a whit of difference. Police Scotland might as well have announced they’d seized 50 boxes of Cheesy Wotsits.

If I wanted to buy an ounce of marijuana, a handful of Es or a bag of magic mushrooms, I could go online now - simply search for “buy drugs online” - and, within an hour, not only have an order confirmation but a tracking number for my package.

And if my illegal drugs did not arrive within 48 hours, a polite individual would respond promptly with news that a replacement was on its way. Drug-dealers don’t have to concern themselves with developing huge networks to expand their empires. All they need is a laptop, some jiffy bags, and a can-do attitude.

So why bother raiding cannabis farms? The answer, I think, lies in the fact those television crews were invited along.

Scotland’s bleak record as the drugs death capital of Europe still stands. The latest National Records of Scotland data shows 1,172 people died through illegal drug use in 2023, an increase of 121 on the previous year.

Any savvy chief constable might encourage filming of a raid on the grounds that it makes it appear the Police are making a difference, They’re not.

And the Scottish Government is doing little to help. Acting Minister for Drug Policy Neil Gray responded to the latest death figures by insisting Scotland is “on the right track”. So, if nothing else, at least we now know Mr Gray thinks the rest of us are idiots.

Readers of a certain age may recall the “Just Say No” slogan aimed at teenagers in the 1980s. I don’t know anyone who took that as anything other than one of a number of options.

These campaigns terrified my parents. Once - I kid you not - my mother, having found scrunched up balls of foil in my bedroom cupboard became convinced that her chubby 12-year-old son had been using it to smoke heroin (chasing the dragon, M’lud), rather than concealing the theft of Kit-Kats from the biscuit tin.

But my parents thought nothing of allowing me a beer at the weekend. And when I was 31 I managed to knock that on the head.

So, I have some knowledge of the matter of addiction and I don’t know anyone whose problem was simply because of the substance itself. The underlying problems are many and varied and to do with mental health.

It’s nonsensical that widely used drugs such as cannabis are illegal. Police don’t care if you’re carrying it. So if the having and the using of the stuff isn’t a problem, then why on earth isn’t it sold and taxed like any other consumable?

If I can buy cannabis in five minutes time, why shouldn’t the NHS get a cut of the cost?

Public services in Scotland have never been under greater pressure. Police officers routinely don’t - because the resources are unavailable - investigate certain crimes. And council budget cuts have seen social work departments shrink.

It is getting increasingly difficult for police and social workers to help addicts and others in the communities in which they live when they’re needed. Heroin users are parked on Methadone for decades. Every cannabis farm raid is another photo opportunity and not much else.

So, enough of promises that we’re on the right track. We’re not.

There are retired police officers and social workers, professionals with decades of experience, whose insight into this issue may be crucial. Perhaps a modest investment so that a group of such individuals - with the space and time frontline workers don’t have - can bring much needed focus to a problem that shows no sign at all of going away.

From discussions with politicians, I think they’re behind the public on drugs policy. The legalisation of cannabis would not cause an uproar.

So let’s stop pretending “drugs” is one bit homogenous problem.

If either of my kids asked whether I’d rather they vaped some grass with their pals or took a bottle of vodka up to the park, I’d encourage the former every single time.

It’s time for radical rethink of our drug laws. The only people who stand to lose out are the dealers.