Police issue warning to dealers and users

A NEWLY-appointed police chief has warned small-time cannabis peddlers they will be given the same tough treatment as class A dealers who run Camden Lock’s drug markets.
Inspector John Daley said on Tuesday that police would maintain “a dealer is a dealer” mentality in their approach to overcoming the area’s historic drug problem.
The strategy means that, because of Camden Town’s reputation for being a trouble hotspot, anybody caught with even small portions of class C cannabis will be arrested.
Inspector Daley, who has just been appointed to a new sector inspector role in Camden Town, has made drugs a key priority.
He said: “What we have found is that where you get dealers dealing in cannabis you will find class A drug-dealing.
“To the public there isn’t much difference. They just see a dealer. The policy in the hotspot remains the same. If you are found with cannabis in Camden Town you will be arrested.
“Until the Home Office says otherwise, cannabis is still illegal. People get confused. It has not be decriminalised, it has just become a class C drug.”
Inspector Daley added: “Camden Town does have a drugs problem.
“Things have improved but you can always improve further. That’s what I will be hoping to do in the next couple of years.”
The new inspector was backed by the borough’s most senior officer, Borough Commander Mark Heath, who said that a wider attack on drugs would take in cannabis dealers as well as drug barons who trade in addictive crack cocaine and heroin. He said: “We are working against the historic reputation that Camden Town has for drug dealing.
“We want businesses and the community to get involved.”
Commander Heath added: “We want to make Camden Town a place where people feel safe.”
Privately, some senior officers and leading council figures are concerned that Camden High Street is dotted with stalls and shops that sell magic mushrooms, cannabis lollipops and smoking paraphernalia, such as bongs and tobacco tins. But Town Hall strategists and top-ranked officers are treading carefully as most traders operate within the law.
Commander Heath said: “We will be having discussions with the council. We would encourage traders and businesses to act responsibly.”
Inspector Daley’s appointment coincides with the arrival of a new inspector in Kentish Town.
Sector Inspector Steve Shepherd said he would be carefully monitoring any possible displacement of drug activity to his patch.
He revealed that Kentish Town would be the next council ward to have a Safer Neighbourhoods programme, which involves stationing extra officers in an area.
The initiative has already been introduced in Gospel Oak and Haverstock