Police to crack down on the supply, possession and use of the Class B drug cannabis in Wiltshire
Police have pledged to crack down on the supply, possession and use of the Class B drug cannabis in Wiltshire despite concerns over officers' powers to stop and search suspects.
Young recruits at the College of Policing were told not to use the smell of cannabis alone as the sole reason to use their powers to stop and search suspects following racism allegations.
In 2017, new guidance was issued after a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary found that large numbers of searches were being carried out solely because police could smell cannabis.
At a recent town council meeting, Cllr Andrew Bryant asked local police "Can you tell us what is the police response to weed. Any time I go into town, the town stinks of weed."
"I can walk past probably almost every other group of people gathering, not just young people, but there are certain groups that seem to religiously smoke the weed and they seem to be getting away with it.
"My wife was just walking down from the small car park by the old post office and postal box and walked past a car that absolutely stank of weed and at the same time she walked past a police officer was walking past in uniform and made no attempt whatsoever to investigate it.
"Are the police actively investigating the weed or are they just going out on big-time drug dealers?"
