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Taunton - a police state?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
How to turn almost any local story, into a pro-cannabis issue:

Dear Editor,

How refreshing it was to read the views of Mike Dagley in the Taunton Times’ new Speakers corner column last week.

It certainly would appear that Taunton Deane is fast becoming a ‘police state’, where the agenda is set not by elected council members, but by un-elected police officers.

In the last few weeks we have seen the council decide to lock the majority of public toilets at night, because hard-drug users, alcoholics and the homeless are abusing them and the police have done nothing to prevent it.

Now we are being told that no further pubs and clubs will be allowed because again the police are unable to do deal with a small number of yobs and thus are not providing the service for which the people of Somerset have paid.

So, how exactly have we arrived at this situation – well I would suggest two major factors;

1 – resources are being taken from Somerset to deal with increasing crack-cocaine related crime in Bristol - as a result of that city’s problems our freedom and liberty is being restricted.

2 – our police service is failing to prioritise crime and their response to it.

Why, for example, am I still reading of court cases for possession of cannabis, when they could be dealt with by formal caution, and when soon the ‘offence’ will become non-arrestable and dealt by a simple warning? Especially when the court has been handing out one-year conditional discharges and £50 costs on these so-called offences - surely, police time can be better spent.

This situation worries me deeply, as whilst Jefferson Horsley, our elected council leader, commenting on plans for a cannabis café in the town said, “I have no problem with Taunton turning into a mini-Amsterdam”.

At a recent Doorsafe meeting, town centre police sergeant Peter Yensen stated that such cafes would not be tolerated in Taunton – this despite the fact they don’t provide any of the problems that seem to concern him regarding pubs and clubs. If the resources are not there to police the streets, why would he want to raid a cannabis café – where he will not have any power of arrest over it’s customers?

So no more pubs & clubs, no cannabis cafes, hardly any late night toilets – where exactly is this all going to end? Perhaps we should all just lock ourselves in our own homes after 6pm each night, in order to give our police ‘service’ an easier time!

Although I intend to stand for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance at the next election, our party allows each candidate total freedom on any other policies, basically allowing us to go beyond the ‘single-issue’ and to be an ‘independent’ voice thereafter.

Let me assure the people of Taunton that my policies will include lobbying for proper policing for Somerset and a reversal of any council policy formed as a result of the present lack of and mis-targeted resources in Taunton Deane.

Mike Cottee
Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Taunton Deane
& National Executive Officer of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

:D

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i wouldnt want to go in a public bog anyway, id probably come out with 2 black eyes and no money :D
    Duffy
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