Cannabis scratch and sniff cards to track down drug farms (From Watford Observer)

Cannabis scratch and sniff cards to track down drug farms

5:20pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter

Cannabis-scented scratch-and-sniff cards are going to be used to spearhead a crackdown on drug farms in Hertfordshire.

Crimestoppers is launching its unorthodox campaign to help residents recognise the smell of cannabis in its growing stage.

The charity hopes this will lead to more people spotting - or sniffing out - cannabis farms on their doorstep.

The campaign comes as the number of detected cannabis factories, which are often set up covertly in homes of flats, rose by 15 per cent last year.

Hertfordshire Constabulary’s chief constable, Andy Bliss, said: "Closing down cannabis farms and arresting the criminals who run and organise them is a key focus in drugs policing. This is because we recognise that these farms are often run by organised criminals but also because they bring crime and anti-social behaviour into local communities causing real harm and leaving people feeling unsafe.

"We also know that many people don’t realise that the empty, run down house or flat on their street with people coming and going late at night may actually be a commercial cannabis farm. It’s not just the stereotype of the remote rural set or disused industrial estate unit."

Anyone with information about cannabis farms can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.