How flood of super-strength cannabis is hitting Britain streets as its links to terrifying crime wave are revealed
More cannabis than any other drug was detected coming into the country by Border Force last year — with the black market in the illegal substance estimated to be worth £2.6billion.
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Border officials seized 85 tonnes of herbal marijuana — up 73 per cent on the previous year — and around 480,000 plants and 416 tonnes of cannabis resin, up 183 per cent on 2023 figures.
But despite the massive seizures, illegal drugs are still making their way on to the streets.
Now we can reveal a new report has found a direct link between cannabis use and an 'increased risk of perpetration of physical violence, including aggravated assault, sexual aggression, fighting and robbery'.
Criminology expert Dr Simon Harding, who helped compile the University of West London report, told the Sun on Sunday: 'The links between violence and cannabis are going under the radar.
'When there are calls for the decriminalisation or legalisation of cannabis, some are thinking of the cannabis of 30 or 40 years ago, which caused fits of giggles.
Sword attack
'But what we're dealing with now is more like a Frankenstein genetically modified version of cannabis, with very high THC levels, which makes people very paranoid.'
Our revelations come after Sir Andy Marsh, head of the College of Policing, demanded earlier this month that officers crack down on cannabis use.
He said the smell of the plant-based drug, which is also known as marijuana or weed, made him 'feel unsafe' and 'is a sign of crime and disorder'.
Dr Harding, who is also a regular expert witness at major drug trials, said the new strong cannabis being produced is leading to cases of psychosis.
He cited the trial of Marcus Monzo, 37, who last month was found guilty of the murder of 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in Hainault, Essex, while in a state of cannabis-induced psychosis.
Smugglers hiding cannabis in luggage at record rates - but are barely trying to hide it
Dr Harding said: 'We only have to point to this sword attack.
'Psychosis is not going to happen to everybody, but if you are prone to that and there may be underlying factors, it can be pretty serious stuff and the psychiatric facilities in the UK are full of people suffering from cannabis psychosis.'
The influx of cannabis reaching our shores is, in part, fuelled by other countries legalising its use.
Of the 173 cannabis smuggling cases already dealt with by our courts this year, the majority came from Thailand.
Cannabis was legalised there three years ago, but has become so rife and problematic that last month the government there imposed new rules to try to tackle the issue.
Drug lords in Canada, where cannabis is legal, and the US, where some states have followed suit, are also major exporters.
Last year there were 75 arrests related to cannabis originating from Canada, and 47 from the US, according to the National Crime Agency.
Dr Harding says the marketing of different drug strains from abroad is increasingly sophisticated. Users are being offered an 'a la carte menu' with up to 50 choices.
He said: 'The menus are available with different prices and I see it in every drug case I work on. People import it from parts of America and Thailand where it has been decriminalised.
'When other parts of the world decriminalise, it has a knock-on effect in other places.'
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the proportion of robberies taking place while offenders are under the influence of drugs was at 34 per cent in 2024 — up from 25 per cent in 2014.
There has also been a worrying rise in children using THC or synthetic cannabis in vapes, with a number of schools issuing warnings to parents.
Dr Harding says his report, which was funded by the London Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, found the use of cannabis among youngsters is a terrifying 'gateway to other crime and to violence'.
Youths preyed upon
He said: 'This is something that goes under most people's radar. It was a big finding in my report.'
It is also one of the major ways that youths are preyed upon.
He explained: 'The biggest way to recruit for county lines gangs is to get a boy into debt.
'The dealer sells them a little bit of weed on tick for a few weeks. The kids think they have made a friend and they get weed for free.
'By the end of the month the boy has maybe smoked £50 of cannabis, then that dealer comes back and says the debt is £300 and if they don't pay they will be in trouble.
'They have to work it off — and that means shifting or transporting drugs for the dealers.'
But earlier this month, London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan called for the possession of 'small quantities of natural cannabis' to be decriminalised.
He said it would address concerns that UK drug laws were harming relations between the police and ethnic communities.
But in New York, where marijuana was legalised in March 2021, State Senator Mario Mattera warned such a move would be a disaster for our country.
He told the Sun on Sunday: 'All you do is smell cannabis on the streets here now. It's terrible and it's out of control.
'We have created a monster, and more people are on drugs.
'The UK needs to look at the US states where the black market is running rampant.
'Look at the crime. Is that what you want?
'What has happened here should be a warning.'
'WEED AT 13 RUINED MY LIFE'
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A FORMER addict blames smoking cannabis as a teenager for his life of crime.
Paul Hannaford, now 55, used to fund his £500-a-day heroin and crack habit through shoplifting and drug dealing.
He had been stabbed seven times and served 15 prison sentences before the age of 36.
But Paul was a bright child with a talent for football growing up in Romford, East London.
It all changed after he was introduced to 'weed' at 13.
Within six months, he was smoking it every day.
He told The Sun on Sunday: 'If I hadn't tried cannabis, I wouldn't have committed crimes.
'I started with weed, but it made me lazy and affected my mental health. I got chucked out of three schools in one year.
'In every city I go to these days, addiction is getting worse and a lot of it starts off with cannabis.
'Nobody's first drug is crack cocaine or heroin. Weed was the gateway drug.'
Now clean for 18 years, Paul gives talks in schools and prisons about the dangers of drugs.
He said: 'If fewer people smoked cannabis there would be less crime and fewer mental health issues.'
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