British police commander charged with drug use on holiday

The British cannabis debate, more than almost anywhere else, has long since descended into the tragic-comic. This latest development is no exception.

Julian Bennett, who wrote the Metropolitan Police’s current drugs strategy, is facing sacking after being accused of gross misconduct. Namely for the alleged consumption of cannabis, LSD and magic mushrooms during a holiday on the other side of the English Channel.

Obviously, Brexit has no impact on these kinds of things.

Bennett is also accused of refusing to provide a drug sample on July 21, 2020. Even better, he also allegedly claimed at the time that he was taking CBD to treat a medical condition on his face.

The hearing on his fate, scheduled to take place this week, has been postponed to May 23. The reason? Bennett’s lawyers have argued that it would be unfair to proceed because they did not receive all of the digital evidence, including the images sent via WhatsApp. There has reportedly been one Whatsapp photo so far showing cannabis on a table.

Even more outrageous is that Bennett wrote the MPS drug strategy for 2017-2021 and served as the commander of the Territorial Police. He also presided over 74 drug abuse hearings involving 90 officers between 2010 and 2012. 56 officers – or more than 75 percent of his colleagues who stood before him – were fired.

Bennett joined the force in 1977 and went on to have a high-flying career, including planning for the London 2012 Olympics and his current role at the time of his suspension, which included managing law enforcement and pandemic planning. He also led a Scotland Yard panel that dismissed wrongdoing against five other officers involved in an incident that led to the death of a black musician, Sean Rigg.

Interesting timing

The news comes as the head of MPS, also Britain’s largest police force, Cressida Dick, has been forced to resign after Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, accused her of presiding over a culture of racism and misogyny. Dick himself has faced increasing scrutiny for handling (or, more accurately, not handling) a series of scandals that have rocked the British police force of late.

These include a case in which an MPS officer kidnapped and later murdered a 33-year-old woman – Sarah Everard. Most recently, on February 1, a police surveillance report revealed shocking evidence that officers in central London had engaged in misogyny, homophobia, bullying and sexual harassment over a number of years.

Adding to the outrage at the ongoing scandals is the MPS’ recent stance not to investigate Boris Johnson’s “Partygate”.

The move also comes as the domestic cannabis industry and activists have again besieged the UK government to take a more modern approach to cannabis reform, which is now underway around the world.

In fact, Khan is also likely to push his proposal to make London the center of a unique decriminalization process, especially given the city’s link between racism and drug arrests. A new YouGov poll shows widespread support for the idea, with a whopping 63 per cent of Londoners backing the idea. Supporters of both parties stand behind it.

While the pilot scheme has only been proposed for three of London’s 32 boroughs, 59 per cent of city dwellers would also support a similar trial in their neighbourhoods.

Despite the support, a cabal of Tory MPs have already condemned the plan, suggesting it would “effectively decriminalize cannabis”.

The pilot is small and also a controlled experiment in how a small change in policy might actually work, but it has so far met with fierce opposition in Parliament.

Politicians vs. the people

Parliamentary convulsions notwithstanding, the reality is that attitudes towards drugs are changing rapidly across the UK – just like everywhere else. Even among the police and those directly responsible for maintaining status quo politics, as well for punishing colleagues who do the exact same thing.

Disgust in the UK is currently running high at both instructions from the acting Prime Minister and serious failings by bodies such as the police.

It is not inconceivable that post-COVID, public anger at the way many issues have been handled will become the focus of much broader reforms.

Cannabis reform is absolutely in the mix right now – in the UK and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, British patients are still struggling to get hold of the drug and the CBD industry is struggling, mostly unsuccessfully, to get official certifications for products.

A reform is overdue. But it also appears to be hanging in the wings at this point, while some of the deeper (albeit high-placed) rotten fruit fall to the ground and are swept away by rising calls for reform — not just for drug policy — but societal change beyond.