One maverick police commissioner is leading a charge against the prosecution of people who grow and smoke weed at home. Durham PCC Ron Hogg says that his force will no longer be going after "users and small-scale growers" and wants to see people arrested only if they’re being blatant about production.

Speaking to the Independent, Hogg outlined the need for police forces across the UK to focus their energies on tackling multi-million pound criminal enterprises, rather than Britons growing weed at home and smoking it there. He does however still regard cannabis to be a dangerous drug but wants to help "addicts" recover, rather than keep them in a cycle of crime.

“Our objective is to reduce harm," said Hogg. "And as cannabis does cause harm, we are still intent on stopping people using this drug. But we would rather see resources used to help addicts recover, and reduce the number of victims of crime by reducing re-offending, which Durham’s “checkpoint” scheme is aiming to do.”

Hogg also says that his force’s blind eye tactic is not a unique outlook and in fact one shared by police forces across the country. So if the police is now ignoring small-scale cannabis farmers, how close are we to countrywide legalisation?

Despite being a relatively low priority, cannabis costs £500 million in law enforcement costs each year and creates a black market worth £6 billion. The legalisation of cannabis, a drug considered safer than alcohol or tobacco by mant scientists, could help fund underfunded areas of society like the NHS, through tax revenue generated by sales.

The US has entirely legalised marijuana in four states, if the police are adopting an unoffical approach towards decriminalisation, should the UK be looking at following suit?