A local police department in the United Kingdom has issued an apology over an incorrect statement made following a cannabis garden raid.
By Steve Elliott of Toke of the Town
A local police department in the United Kingdom has issued an apology over an incorrect statement made following a cannabis garden raid.
Northamptonshire Police have retracted an earlier statement which claimed the odor of mature marijuana plants causes cancer, reports the Harborough Mail.
“Northamptonshire Police would like to apologize for the incorrect information provided to the media which claimed that cannabis plants had potential carcinogenic properties,” a spokesman for the force stiffly offered.
“This information was provided in good faith,” the spokesman claimed. “However, we accept the information was misleading and we will strive to ensure this does not happen again.”
The original outlandish claim was published in the Mail on March 1 in a report about cannabis plants being seized by police during a raid in Cottingham. It received worldwide attention after Toke of the Town picked up the story on March 8.
The original story in the Mail had the following passage after the “drugs factory” (which is what the newspaper called the pot patch) was raided by police:
Police are warning that when cannabis plants reach the final stages of maturity the odour they release has carcinogenic properties … Officers who deal with the plants use ventilation masks and protective suits and people who have plants in their home, especially anyone with young children, may be exposing their family to a health risk.
The laughably earnest coverage came after a drugs sweep in Cottingham, one of three carried out in the Corby area late last month.
Police raided a house in Cottingham on February 20, and a 45-year-old man from the village was arrested on suspicion of “drugs offences.” Ninety marijuana plants, “with a street value of between £20,000 and £30,000,” were seized from the property.
The man at the residence has been released on bail “pending further enquiries.”
“Would someone in Cottingham please tell these annoyingly clueless jackasses that the scent of cannabis doesn’t cause cancer? Thanks!” Toke of the Town said back on March 8.
Thank you for stepping up to the plate, Northamptonshire Police Department.
Article From Toke of the Town and republished with special permission.
