Scandal of Scots dope factories

DETECTIVES are shutting down at least one cannabis factory a week in their battle to contain an illegal industry created by reclassification of the drug, one of Scotland's leading police officers revealed last night.

Graeme Pearson, director general of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA), said cannabis factory raids north of the Border had gone from none to 66 in the space of 12 months.

In comments that will be seen as critical of senior politicians who allowed cannabis to be "downgraded" from Class B to Class C, Pearson says organised crime saw a business opportunity and quickly moved in.

Pearson said Scotland's new generation of "industrial-sized" cannabis producers could be worth more than £7m - equivalent to eight million "spliffs".

The SDEA chief spoke out after the government announced cannabis could be returned to Class B. That prompted numerous admissions north and south of the Border from politicians who admitted smoking the drug as students.

But Pearson warned that society faced much more severe problems as a result of cannabis use, including the increased strength of the drug. He also revealed that many people were working in the factories in conditions similar to "slavery".

The move to reclassify cannabis was made in 2004 by the-then Home Secretary David Blunkett. It came despite fierce opposition from many experts who claimed it gave out the wrong message.

Pearson said: "It is not surprising that the public misunderstood the reclassification message. They began to think cannabis was OK and young people took that message to mean that it cannot be too bad to use and was no big deal.

"As a result, we have gone from zero cultivation of industrial-sized cannabis factories in Scotland a year ago, to 66 today."

It is estimated that around 60% of cannabis smoked in Britain these days is home-produced, compared with just 11% a decade ago. The UK trade is run by the 'Viet-Ching', an amalgamation of Vietnamese gangsters working alongside Chinese counterparts, the Triads.

Pearson said: "I am obviously concerned about cannabis and its links to organised crime."

He added: "Each factory can house up to 1,000 plants, each capable of producing £100,000-worth of cannabis, making production in Scotland alone worth at least £7m a year."

Across the country, factories have been built in houses, flats, industrial units and farms. And just as worrying as the soaring production rates is the fact that the cannabis is today around seven times stronger than the era when many top politicians were smoking it.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said his party had long called for the reclassification of the drug, adding that the evidence "shows all too clearly the real damage this drug can do to people, especially young people".

Margaret Smith, the Scottish Lib Dem justice spokeswoman, said the drug's classification needs to be kept under review. She said: "I find these facts and figures very worrying and cannabis is a drug we need to take seriously. We should not underestimate its potential for harm."

The anti-drugs campaigner Maxie Richards said it was a mistake to have reclassified cannabis. She said: "The government never listened to us when we warned about the damage the reclassification would do. I see beautiful young people whose lives have been destroyed by cannabis. David Blunkett should be called to account for what he did."

A Scottish Executive spokesman said they remained vigilant about the drug's dangers.