Alison Hernandez: There's no such thing as a 'safe' illegal drug

This week forces around the South West will be joining forces for the eighth time for Operation Scorpion - a joint initiative proposed by me and my fellow police and crime commissioners to tackle drugs in the region.

There is a huge amount of nonsense spoken about drugs from some of those who use them and others who have a vested interest in selling them, some of whom are campaigning for legalisation and see a relaxation of the law as a way to make money.

But having been involved in my community for decades – and Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Commissioner for eight years – I am more convinced than ever that many of society’s problems are caused by the dealers who exploit some of our most vulnerable communities.

Take Torquay for example, where last week I and partners launched our Street Focus project to tackle antisocial behaviour and violence.

The Castle Circus area of the town is one of 16 places around Devon and Cornwall to benefit from hotspot policing money which will put more uniformed patrols on the beat. Our force area is one of the safest in the country but these locations were chosen because they have higher levels of antisocial behaviour and violence than others.

Much of this crime is fuelled by drug abuse. I am really concerned about the impact of drugs on retailers, whose stock is being shoplifted and whose staff feel threatened by criminals who have been extremely aggressive as they steal to fund their next fix.

There is a real need for urgency on this matter. Sadly, warnings about street drugs being laced with deadly nitazenes – synthetic opioids which are mass produced in China – came true last month when two people died and 10 were hospitalised in North Devon.

Unscrupulous dealers cut their drugs with these products because they are cheap and can be 100 times stronger than heroin. Policing leaders think these dangerous chemicals might, over time, find their way into more street drugs and harm people who are less frequent drug users.

Cannabis too – once considered relatively safe – is causing real harm to users because of its increased strength. High-potency varieties now make up 94 per cent of police seizures and a study by the University of Bath found that on average the content of the active ingredient increased by 14 per cent between 1970 and 2017.

This is having a devastating effect on mental health, prompting the Royal College of Psychologists to last year describe cannabis use among young people as a ‘ticking time bomb’. Once weekly use in your mid teens leads to a 25 per cent increase of developing mental illness as an adult, the college said.

So this week I will be supporting police as they take robust action around the South West in support of Operation Scorpion.

Those who want to find a way to get off drugs will also have my full support, and can get practical help and advice from their nearest NHS drug and alcohol service.

My message to residents of the force area remains straightforward – there are no safe illegal drugs, and if you want to be immune from their harms and out of trouble with the law, do not take them at all.