The police are recruiting a person to clear out cannabis sites and dispose of the drugs.

The police in Somerset have posted a job advert. The advert states that the police are looking for someone “to work at any time day or night, 365 days per year, to assist in locating and clearing cannabis growing sites.”

A successful candidate would “attend the scenes of cannabis cultivation and as part of a two-person team will clear the scene of all plants and growing equipment returning it all to Police HQ” where the equipment would be sorted into recycling bins.

The ability to communicate with all colleagues is high on the police list of required skills, as are integrity and honesty. But candidates are also required to be in shape.

The stratospheric rise of medical marijuana as a possible recognized treatment for epilepsy, now underway, is an example of what can be achieved through the sharing of personal stories on the Internet and social media, according to a leading expert in the field.

Daniel Friedman, MD, New York University (NYU) Langone School of Medicine, is a coauthor a review article, "Cannabinoids in the Treatment of Epilepsy," published in the September 10 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

LOCAL groups have exchanged views on cannabis laws ahead of next month's parliamentary debate over whether the drug should be legalised.

Ashford's Tory MP Damian Green says he is not yet persuaded of the need to change legislation.

He told the Herald: "Cannabis is not recognised in its raw form to have any medical purposes. It is a harmful drug.

"Our current laws draw on the best evidence, and it is worth noting that official advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs confirms that cannabis can cause significant health issues.

A cannabis factory clearer is being sought by Avon and Somerset Police.

The force said the job would involve being on call 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, and working in confined spaces, at height and underground.

Successful applicants will not only be required to clear sites of "all plants" but recycle them in the "appropriate manner".

The recruitment is part of Operation Viscount, which aims to tackle cannabis cultivation in the region.

Along with a full, current driving licence applicants will also need a tolerance for high temperatures and a "good level of physical fitness" as "bending, lifting and stretching" would be required.

Interviews for the £17,763 to £18,933-a-year post are due to take place in October.

Norman Lamb spoke last night in Newbury at a panel discussion on drugs misuse and our current drug laws.

Norman said that he has thought through the “drugs danger” and whether it should receive a criminal response or a health response. He said he has concluded that there should be a health response. He alluded to John Stuart Mill’s ‘self-regarding acts’, where the state shouldn’t interfere and ‘other-regarding acts’ where some state intervention may be justified. He said that it is wrong to criminalise those suffering mental ill health who resort to drugs because of their condition. It is “ridiculous”, Norman asserted, that we still put people in prison for personal drugs use.

Warming to his theme, Norman declared:

It's one of the oldest questions of law of all time: stoners to the left of us, squares to the right - but MPs will be debating whether to legalise the production, sale and use of cannabis in Parliament in a month's time.

The move comes after an e-petition, started by student James Owen, reached over 200,000 signatures. Renowned pro-Cannabis MP Paul Flynn, who represents Labour in Newport West and has campaigned for reform for over 25 years, will lead the debate in Westminster Hall on 12 October.

In the 31st International Epilepsy Congress in Istanbul, recent trials showed that cannabis may actually help in the treatment of epilepsy, but its effect doesn’t make any significant difference with other anti-epileptic drugs. 

Professor Helen Cross of Great Ormond Street Hospital, London said that although cannabis may help in the treatment, its usage is still subjected to further research to evaluate its efficacy and safety. 

‘We have to be particularly concerned about the effects of the drug on the developing brain in children,’ Cross said.

Police have arrested a man after finding almost three quarters of a ton of cannabis from a home in Bromley.

Officers executed a search warrant during a planned operation at the address in Glenview Road, Bromley, yesterday morning. The cannabis haul has an estimated street value of £2 million.

A man in his 50s has been arrested at the address on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs. He remains in custody in a police station in south London.

The raid this morning was a response to tackle the blight of drug dealing on the streets of south London. It sends out a strong signal to those involved that we will not tolerate their activities.

– Detective Inspector Steven Miles

The campaign to decriminalise drugs is winning new supporters. In the light of the latest drug death figures is it not time to consider it seriously?

The United Kingdom is currently fighting a war in which thousands of British people die needlessly each year. Deaths that the government, the media and the general population are guilty of turning a blind eye to.

This isn’t a small war either and it is one that takes place in the North East, in fact, it has been going on in the UK for over 40 years with the death toll climbing at an alarming rate.

As a neuropsychopharmacologist at Imperial College London, I study the impact of drug use on the brain. Like many scientists studying these issues, the results I detect in my lab have direct implications on how we can better equip ourselves as a society to deal with drugs.