Drug dealers using QR codes to advertise cannabis on street corners

Drug dealers are selling cannabis via QR codes placed on public bins and lampposts, according to reports.

The stickers displaying an image of a cannabis leaf with the strapline “Get your delivery” have been spotted in Worcester city centre and south-east London.

According to The Daily Mail, the codes link to an online store which sells cannabis sweets resembling wine gums and vaping pens that contain up to 86 per cent of the banned psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Crime

The online store claims the substances are legal, but any cannabis-derived product with more than trace levels of THC is a Class B illegal drug.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police stated: “We will pursue the criminals who are involved in the production and supply of cannabis, on the basis they negatively impact communities and support serious and organised crime.”

Last month, Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez warned that while officers do tackle Class A drugs such as heroin, the “enforcement of drugs and drug-dealing in this country has been pathetically weak on Class B and Class C drugs for years”.

Between 2022 and 2023, the proportion of people charged for possession of the Class B drug cannabis dropped to a record low of 14.5 per cent.

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