Islington Labour Councillor Suggests Cannabis Smokers Don’t Deserve Council Homes
At a meeting of Islington Council1,2 last Thursday, Labour Councillor Gary Poole appeared to suggest that cannabis smokers do not deserve council homes. Cllr Poole, a prison governor and councillor for St Mary’s Ward, stated that “it must be a scandal that we have 10,000 decent people on the waiting list (for council properties), that we can allow council properties to be let to people that would want to engage in criminal behaviour (use of cannabis).”
Rather than be admonished Cllr Poole received a roomful of applause from fellow Labour councillors. Indeed Cllr Paul Convery, executive member for community safety only expressed remorse that 70% of incidents involving cannabis possession did not result in arrest.
Green Councillor and sole member of the opposition on the council Caroline Russell stated “Police time is under more and more pressure as a result of grievous cuts to frontline services. It seems ridiculous that at this time Labour Councillors are pushing for the Police to double down on the failed War on Drugs, wasting time pursuing people who are in possession of small amounts of cannabis.
“I am sure people who live in Islington would prefer police time be spent pursuing organised crime, thieves and other serious crimes, rather than arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning someone with a joint in their pocket. The supply of drugs is dominated by organised crime, the Police should focus in on prosecuting those that deal and supply drugs.”
“Even more troubling is Cllr Poole’s suggestion that cannabis users are less deserving of council homes than “decent people”. The suggestion that the council may wish to evict households that use cannabis is very worrying. How does that help families struggling with addiction? Where does this end, do we introduce mandatory drug testing? Labour need to rethink their authoritarian approach to drugs that unduly punishes those living in social housing and direct their attention to the real criminals – the dealers and the suppliers.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
1 A recording of the council meeting is available here. The discussion referenced starts from 1hr:17:30
2 The transcript of Cllr Poole and Cllr Convery’s exchange is below:
1hr:17:30
Question from Cllr Gary Poole: How many arrests have there been for possession of Cannabis, in Islington in the past 12 months?
Cllr Paul Convery: This is a very serious question. Gary asked how many arrests have been made for possession of Cannabis in Islington in the past 12 months. From the period we have available the dates available is the 1st November 2013 to the 1st October 2014 which were 863 recorded offences of Cannabis possession and of these 849 were for possession only and 16 were for possession with intent to supply. Of the 849 possession offences 216 led to arrest and of the 16 with intent to supply offences 14 led to arrest. So about 30% of cannabis offences led to an arrest
1hr:18:20
Cllr Gary Poole: Thank you Cllr Convery for that. I think that members will be aghast at the amount of arrests taking place in this borough for this serious crime. I’m sure Councillor Convery shares my view that this is prevalent drug on our streets. In my ward you can’t walk the length of Upper Street without being assailed by the stench of cannabis at some point along the journey. And on the estates of which we have campaigned we must all know the flats and the properties of which the tell tale sign of cannabis are there every time we knock on the doors. So I will ask Councillor Convery if you will engage the executive with a view to galvanising this whole council, every officer in this council in the war against drugs on the streets of Islington and in particular in regards to housing because it must be a scandal that we have 10,000 decent people on the waiting list that we can allow council properties to be let to people that would want to engage in criminal behaviour.
1hr:19:10
Unknown: Hear, Hear (applause)
Cllr Paul Convery: To reach out to Gary let me say this. I think one of the difficulties we face to which the statistics I have just given illuminate is that there are large numbers of cases and fairly large number of arrests but 70% of Cannabis related offences do not even lead to an arrest never mind a prosecution never mind a conviction. And I believe that is because that some people do consider Cannabis possession to be a minor offence and that it is a benign substance and I think the important point we have to understand here, 2 important points. Number one that there is a supply chain of criminality that brings this substance. Growers and manufacturers around the world to bring what we might call retail use here in Islington.
Geographically some of that supply chain isn’t that distant actually because Cannabis is planted growing in Council Flats in this borough and to find out we go in, you use orders and we shut down those flats we removed the people abusing them and arrests do follow. But let’s be clear Cannabis supply is a form or organised crime, it is regulated and its disputes are enforced with violence. Distribution of cannabis happens alongside heroin and other very dangerous narcotics and it works alongside crimes of people trafficking and sexual exploitation. Every wrap of dope sold in this borough has traces of pain and misery on it.
The second reason is at the council level use and distribution of Cannabis here in Islington underpins other types of local crime. Dealers of small amounts of Cannabis are also the people stealing smartphones, burglary of homes and businesses. They’re the people who are committing robbery on the streets, they’re the people that are committing anti-social behaviour, those are the people who are resolving their local disputes violently on our streets. So going after Cannabis dealing is a crucial component of the overall attack on criminality in our borough and so for that reason being a matter of I think in a couple of months we will bringing to the executive a paper which sets out a very comprehensive approach to fundamentally reducing particularly youth crime, particularly violent youth crime, of which Cannabis dealing is a very core point. And I hope that will be a strategy that will be widely supported which will take us towards this administrations goal of making Islington one of the safest boroughs in London. Indeed a borough which is not [inaudible] and the presence of drug dealing one of the most important symptoms of that criminality of which we intend to conquer.
