Roads are out of control

It was mid-afternoon. We were on an a-road. A vehicle became parallel with ours. A turn to my left revealed a male in sunglasses. In his right hand was a big fat spliff.

His windows were down and his tunes were loud. We could smell cannabis in our cockpit, despite our windows being up. The arrogance offended even me.

This behaviour screamed, I do not give a shit. It also suggested the driver had become so confident, he had forgotten what law and order is. A question rose, do our regional police forces still care? Should we just scrap the tax system and join in that complacency? Afterall, it is the working party which is funding such a structure.

Brad on the central reservation, during mid-week rush hour in Birmingham, England

This is not the first time I have witnessed such behaviour. It was the second time in one day I had seen cannabis being used behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. This month, alone, I've seen more than fifteen drivers, actively using illegal drugs whilst a vehicle is in motion.

Traffic stops are vital to ending driving free-for-alls.

It is not that I am against the action, or hating on people themselves. What I am against is what I am not witnessing. Where is the enforcement? Where are the reminders? If a police force fails to use what is theirs, then a responding behaviour is likely to penetrate. The force becomes a barrier to such activity. It will, like a filtration system in biology, locate and isolate free radicals. Post filtration, sees only intended molecules continue in flow. Radicals are treated and can carry on in flow. Without this filtration, any and all can pass, which can upset a macro-organism's equilibrium.

I urge our regional police forces to use statue to their fullest. I encourage the use of random vehicle checks. I also promote the use of check points, where officers can pull vehicles into laybys for the briefest of interactions. Such interactions can take less than a minute. Alcohol and drug use can be smelt. Evidential indicators of such activity can be identified in less that thirty seconds. It would require only suspicion of an offence for an officer to take further precaution.

An anti-drugs message next to traffic on the A34 Walsall Road, Birmingham, England

The use of testing equipment, such as a breathalyser can be used at the roadside, which would reveal whether or not a driver is over the legal limit to drive a vehicle. Without these vital check-points, traffic would pass and offending behaviour allowed. Through time, people who engage in this activity will grow in confidence. The action is gaining repetition and no resistance is being met. It can and does grow in momentum.

The arrogance to see a foreign national behind the wheel of an 07 plate motor, windows down, tunes up, smoking what is illegal in the UK, anyway, let alone to have been used while driving along a 40, was a shambles. To see it in number is showing me, the police need to intervene further and stronger than that of what is being witnessed.

A pair of nitrile disposible gloves close to the scene of a road traffic collision

It is wholly unacceptable to witness the use of illegal drugs on UK land. If you think you can walk down a street, smoking illicit substances, you can expect a detention. I cannot see officers making an effective use of PACE. It is there to be used. I am encouraging a greater use of stop and search and road traffic stops, to minimise this myth that smoking drugs is not illegal in this country.

I stopped a constable in a city centre, recently. I challenged her. I said, a male has just walked past you smoking a blunt, aren’t you going to stop and search him. Her response made my hair curl, and my hair is wavy. She said, “it’s only cannabis, it’s fine.”

It is not fine. This demonstrates there are serving officers, who do not know the law. I dig a little deeper and suggest, they do know the law. They cherry pick that which they wish to investigate and turn a convenient blind eye to that which they do not.

A fines sheet, evidencing that, indeed, possession of cannabis is a criminal offence in the UK

Sentences for possession of a Class B drug can range from financial penalties to 51 weeks prison, whilst production and supply carries a maximum penalty of up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

Statute is not there to be cherry picked. It is blanket. There is never, a rule for one and a rule for another in UK law. I don’t care how much charity you’ve done, how much money you’ve raised for causes, if you’ve been nabbed drinking or smoking drugs behind the wheel, you can expect a bench appearance. You are no different from the warehouse worker, who’s just clocked off, doing the same.

A man almost died this week in Oxfordshire, after being hit by a car being driven by someone who was off his face.

Paul Pickett, aged 50, of Ripley Road, Broughton, has been jailed for more than three years for leaving a man fighting for his life. Pickett was also done for being over the limit and for using drugs behind the wheel.

A message promoting drug free living in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England

To the drivers I witnessed this week, let’s hope you don’t run into a check point and God forbid involve in a collision, which can cause a serious ripple effect not only for the third party, but, yourselves.

Life sentences can and have been given to drivers who have caused deaths whilst under the influence of drugs at the wheel. It is too late after an event. All regional police forces need to do their upmost to execute preventative strategy to lower this behaviour, before such events occur. Sergeants, leading teams, must devise planning and encourage their units to take the most proactive approach when it comes to minimising such road arrogance.

There is a big difference between using drugs behind the wheel, in built up public places and in a private area. This is not reflected in law, mind. Statute is perfectly clear on that.

It is completely unacceptable to be told by a street bobby, “oh, it’s only cannabis, it’s fine.” That ain’t on. This attitude must be rid. If this ideology is pertinent among policing circles, then a behaviour in a community WILL gather momentum and exponent.

Cannabis possession is not legal in the United Kingdom and can carry a prison sentence. Let it remain this way. More needs to be done to get the message out there. The promotion of legalised cannabis-based products, saturating our advertisement network, needs altering.

There is a difference between cannabis based and cannabis. This is misleading. It has created collusion and argument to an area which need not be grey, even more so to a community where the use of class B substances is a criminal offence.