3 days ago
The needless deaths caused by cannabis: The suicide of a talented violinist, a father brutally murdered on a train in front of his young son, an addict mother who drowned her two small children and an entire family wiped out by a knife maniac
What better way for the Mayor of London to launch a drugs debate than to pose for pictures framed by a forest of cannabis plants?
So thought Sadiq Khan 's aides when he announced a 'commission' to look at decriminalising the drug in Britain.
It was decided that a taxpayer-funded 'fact-finding' mission to the United States was needed to discover how Los Angeles had fared since recreational marijuana became legal in California four years earlier.
Thus Sir Sadiq found himself facing the cameras in May 2022 in the laid-back surrounds of a cannabis factory in LA's downtown district.
He declared that 'hearing from those who cultivate and grow this plant has been fascinating'.
Naturally, his bouncy enthusiasm for a change in the law back home found favour in liberal quarters. Gary Lineker, for one, felt compelled to offer the world his opinion.
Others warned the mayor, who oversees Britain's biggest police force, that his time would be better spent tackling drug and knife crime in the capital.
Indeed, it is perhaps worth noting that just a month before Sir Sadiq flew to the US, marijuana-addicted Joshua Jacques slaughtered three generations of a family in a psychotic frenzy not three miles from the mayor's office.
It was a case, observed a judge, that offered a salutary lesson about the dangers of cannabis.
Three years on, the London Drugs Commission's work is now done.
Unsurprisingly, last week the mayor backed its recommendation to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
Although Sir Sadiq has no powers to lift the marijuana ban in London, he urged ministers to consider the proposals, saying they were 'compelling' and 'evidence based'.
Try telling that, though, to the family of gifted violinist Laura Bower-McKnight, 22, who, on the cusp of a promising career, killed herself at her family home in Lincolnshire.
Or the wife of IT consultant Lee Pomeroy, stabbed 18 times in front of his 14-year-old son on a day trip to London.
Or the husband of Kara Alexander, 47, who drowned her sons aged two and five in the bath then tucked them up in bed for him to find them.
Or the family – what's left of it – of Samantha Drummonds, 27, who, along with her mother, grandmother and grandmother's partner, was stabbed to death by Jacques, her boyfriend, in Bermondsey, south-east London.
Beyond violence and tragedy, the one common factor binding these and countless other seemingly disparate acts is cannabis.
Not that any of this is a surprise to police, lawyers and judges. In courts across the land the part played by cannabis in violent deeds is spelled out all too clearly – and frequently.
Time and again those working in the criminal justice system hear the same warning: That heavy use can lead to serious psychosis – especially as nearly all cannabis on Britain's streets is now said to be super-strength skunk.
The drug's increasing potency has significantly increased the risk of psychosis and other harms.
Outside the house on the well-kept estate where Jacques, 29, began his knife attack, a fresh spray of flowers in memory of his victims hangs from a lamppost.
'Nobody round here will forget what happened,' said a family friend yesterday.
'Legalising weed might prove popular with a lot of people in London, and we all get why the mayor thinks it makes him look cool, but it was skunk that killed Sam and her family.'
Jacques, it transpired at this trial, had smoked cannabis since the age of 12 and had doubled his consumption of the stronger skunk variety in the week before the killings.
Police found the bodies of Ms Drummonds, her mother, Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, and Hill's partner, Denton Burke, 58, after they were alerted to a disturbance by a neighbour.
Officers discovered Mr Burke's body at the foot of the stairs and the three women 'heaped together' in the kitchen.
Mr Justice Bryan, the judge at Jacques's trial, said: 'It is a salutary lesson to all those who peddle the myth that cannabis is not a dangerous drug. It is, and its deleterious effect on mental health and its potential to cause psychosis is well established.'
Jacques received four life sentences and must serve a minimum of 46 years.
Sir Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatric research at King's College London, warned: 'People need to know that cannabis, particularly modern cannabis, is a risky drug to take every day.
'We are now in the middle of an epidemic of psychosis caused by heavy use of high-potency cannabis – as a consequence, our rates of schizophrenia are now three times higher than they were 50 years ago.'
In normal cannabis resin, the average concentration of the main psychoactive component – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – has risen dramatically in recent years.
By contrast, the proportion of antipsychotic cannabidiol (CBD), which helps to mitigate the drug's psychoactive effects, has decreased dramatically.
The commission set up by Sir Sadiq and chaired by former justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton, who is an ally of Sir Keir Starmer, recommended that possession of cannabis be dealt with under the Psychoactive Substances Act rather than the Misuse of Drugs Act, as it is at the moment.
It would remain a criminal act to import, manufacture and distribute cannabis, but it would not be a criminal act to possess small quantities for personal use.
Carol McKnight, the mother of Laura Bower-McKnight, told The Mail on Sunday that the recommendation was 'irresponsible', adding that a change in the law would lead to even more cannabis-induced deaths.
Talented and vivacious, Laura had studied at the prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music and seemed destined for a glittering career.
But she killed herself after a single joint of strong cannabis triggered a psychotic episode and left her a depressed recluse.
She was found hanged at her family's home in North Hykeham, Lincolnshire, in 2012.
Mrs McKnight said: 'People think nothing of cannabis nowadays. A lot of people try it.
'I think young people assume it is completely harmless. But it can destroy your mind.'
She recalled what happened when Laura, who had previously smoked normal cannabis, tried a joint of skunk.
Mrs McKnight said: 'It tipped her into psychosis. It was no longer the real Laura, the always-on-the-go, lovely young woman, the musician, the passionate writer, the artist,'
She added: 'Mr Khan has a lack of knowledge about the drug and the impact it can have on people, especially young ones. It killed my daughter.'
Referring to Sir Sadiq's endorsement of decriminalisation last week, she said: 'When I read online what he said it made me angry, and I feel he is being irresponsible.
'He is an influential man and people listen to him. Mr Khan should think very carefully before he makes public comments like this. 'He has upset and angered many families who have lost loved ones to the drug.
'My life has life fallen apart since Laura's death.'
Sir Sadiq's words have indeed, as she says, caused widespread dismay among families who have lost loved ones in cases in which cannabis has played a key role. Examples abound.
Lee Pomeroy was killed on a train in January 2019 on the eve of his 52nd birthday while making his way to London for a day out with his 14-year-old son.
An argument broke out after cannabis-addicted gang member Darren Pencille, 36, jostled past them in the aisle.
Pencille called his girlfriend and said: 'I'm going to kill this man.'
He then pulled a blade from his pocket and stabbed Mr Pomeroy 18 times, including a fatal wound in his neck.
An associate of Pencille said: 'He smoked weed constantly and was a complete psycho.'
He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2003 but refused to take any medication, treating himself instead by smoking super-strong cannabis every day.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, the judge at his trial, said: 'You were someone who did not take your medication and you did take cannabis, which sometimes made you more paranoid than usual.'
Earlier this year a court heard that like Pencille, Kara Alexander, 47, was high on super-strength cannabis in December 2022 when she drowned her two young sons in the bath at their home in Dagenham, east London.
She then tucked the boys up in their bunk beds for their father to find them.
Sentencing her to life imprisonment, Mr Justice Bennathan said the case should serve as a warning that super-strength cannabis can 'plunge people into a mental-health crisis in which they may harm themselves or others'.
He told Alexander that on the day 'you had been smoking skunk, you had been doing so for weeks before, probably longer.
The judge added: 'You drowned them both. I cannot reach any conclusion other than by your state at that time you intended to kill them.'
What then of the Californian experiment so warmly embraced by Sir Sadiq when he set up his drugs commission?
The advocacy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana released data showing how California, Alaska, Colorado and Oregon saw violent crime rates jump by as much as 29 per cent after cannabis was legalised.
