PCC supports calls to reclassify cannabis
Police forces in the west and south west of England have been cracking down on people using recreational drugs, with Dorset PCC David Sidwick this week reiterating calls for cannabis to be upgraded.
Wiltshire PCC Philip Wilkinson says he has seen "first-hand" how cannabis cultivation and use are "deeply intertwined with a spectrum of criminal activities" in his county.
The Home Office said it has "no intention of reclassifying cannabis from a Class B substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act".
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"From anti-social behaviour and retail theft to more serious offences like modern slavery and human trafficking, cannabis often serves as a gateway drug and funding source for organised crime groups," said Mr Wilkinson.
Recent operations targeting organised crime groups in Wiltshire resulted in more than 100kg (220lbs) of cannabis being seized.
These took place as part of Operation Scorpion, a joint initiative by Avon & Somerset, Dorset, Devon & Cornwall, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire forces, aimed at disrupting drugs networks around the west and south west of England.
Mr Wilkinson added: "The idea that cannabis is a harmless drug is a misconception. Its cultivation and distribution are often controlled by organised crime networks that exploit vulnerable individuals and perpetuate violence.
"County lines operations are the clearest example of how drug-related crime has extended its tentacles into our rural towns and villages. The notion that drug-related crime is only an urban issue is outdated and dangerously naïve."
He said a national drug policy "that recognises cannabis as the deeply harmful drug it is, and supports prevention, education, and treatment alongside policing" would "send a clear message about the seriousness of its impact on our communities".
Mr Wilkinson asked members of the public to continue reporting "any crimes and intelligence from their communities" so action can be taken.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We will continue to work with partners across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use, ensure more people receive timely treatment and support, and make our streets and communities safer.
Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
Experts criticise calls to re-classify cannabis
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Three Things That Just Aren't Worth It
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Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
While on a court order to stay away from one woman, this man was arrested for allegedly assaulting another
After an intimate partner violence case against a 'horror artist' dragged on too long during COVID, the charges were dropped and he entered into a peace bond. Augustin Lobos-Medina was still on that bond when he was charged with assaulting another girlfriend. Those charges remain before the court. The pattern is not uncommon. One study shows 30 per cent of 589 Ontario criminals identified by police for intimate partner violence (IPV) reoffended after 51 months. Most IPV cases fly under the radar and are never reported on . Particularly the abundance of cases that don't involve critical injuries or death. There is no charge called IPV or Domestic Violence, which makes it difficult to track cases. And courts and police often choose not to reveal the names of those charged — though there is no legal reason to do so. Despite the City of Hamilton declaring IPV an epidemic, our community rarely has the opportunity to see and understand criminal matters that reflect this. 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'I thought he was a good-looking guy and I was attracted to the tattoos,' she says. He was involved in Hamilton's dark arts subculture and Williams wanted to know that community better. They messaged for a few weeks and she felt 'love bombed.' On their first date she went to his apartment for drinks. Lobos-Medina already had a few before she arrived, she says, but they had a nice evening. He walked her to her car and hugged her goodbye. She went to his place again for a second date. They listened to heavy metal music and drank. 'It was one of the most traumatic things I've ever gone through in my whole life This time, she says, 'we went from kiss to naked very quickly. I did try to tell him I wasn't ready to go this far. My concerns were dismissed. I didn't stand up for myself … I said no, but then I proceeded to take my clothes off. So is that consent?' It is a question many women ask themselves after confusing sexual encounters. Though the law is clear – consent must be explicit, informed and ongoing – women may wonder if they have inadvertently consented. And shame often kicks in. Williams was 'pretty shaken up' but never told anyone. 'I don't really have a big support circle,' she says. 'I'm not comfortable going to my family with this sort of thing. I've been a very lonely person for a long time.' On their third date, 'he said he was falling in love with me … I kind of rolled my eyes and said, 'We don't even know each other.' I was being playful, but I meant it.' There were a couple of more dates, and sex – which Williams says was consensual. In their final night together, Lobos-Medina suddenly told her to leave. Williams says he backed her against a wall and yelled in her face. He told her he could see he meant nothing to her. 'He was very threatening. I felt like he wanted to hit me, but he didn't.' Williams was afraid to move. She says when Lobos-Medina passed out, she left. She never saw him again. 'It was one of the most traumatic things I've ever gone through in my whole life,' she says. 'Just the way he was able to sell a version of somebody who wasn't real … Clearly he was too good to be true.' In January 2024, Lobos-Medina also met Ruth McGough, 41, on a dating app. They shared an interest in heavy metal music. They arranged to meet at a bar near the tattoo shop he worked at. 'He seemed nice,' she says. They had a couple of drinks and 'went our separate ways.' For McGough, who works in travel, it was an unspectacular date. So she was surprised to be bombarded with texts from Lobos-Medina. 'He said he really liked me. I said, 'You can't like me that much after meeting me only once.'' She says the 'love bombing' was intense. On their second date, he said he loved her. 'Come on, we're adults here,' McGough thought. 'We're not 16-years-old.' On a third date, they went back to his place for drinks and talk. Lobos-Medina told her about an ex-girlfriend, Bezina, who he said was physically and emotionally abusive. 'He told me he was the victim,' McGough says. 'But things weren't lining up in his story.' The next time they saw each other, she referred to Lobos-Medina as 'man' in casual conversation. As in 'Hey man …' She says he 'freaked out.' He yelled so much she began to cry. 'That's when I knew I didn't want to see him anymore.' Courtney Klimka first encountered Lobos-Medina at the tattoo shop he worked at in East Hamilton in March 2024. She popped in to talk to the owner, an old friend, about the recent breakdown of her marriage. Augustin Lobos-Medina was on a court order to stay away from one woman when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting another. Lobos-Medina caught her eye. He was tall and 'covered in tattoos' which included a pentagram, band logos, The Big Lebowski, and a cartoon dog. 'I thought he was a good-looking guy,' says Klimka, who also has tattoos, mostly of 'cute animals' and Disney characters. She has a double degree in business management and marketing from George Brown College and works in digital marketing. Six months later, Lobos-Medina asked her out. He had overheard the conversation about her marriage and, he said, he wanted to wait before approaching her. 'I thought it was super respectful,' says Klimka, 34. 'It seemed like he was a decent kind of guy.' Their first date was in August 2024 at Hutch's restaurant. They sat and talked for almost six hours, sharing an interest in metal and punk music. 'He was the first person I went on a date with since I was 16,' Klimka says. 'He started out very charming. Very sweet. Very caring.' They opened up about their pasts. He said he had been in an abusive relationship that had gone to court. He didn't tell Klimka that he was the one charged. She left that marathon first date believing his ex-partner, Bezina, was abusive and 'thinking there might be a relationship here.' Before the evening ended, they walked past a couple in the midst of a marriage proposal. 'One day that should be us,' Lobos-Medina said. In the days following, Lobos-Medina 'love-bombed' Klimka. He gave her 'excessive compliments' and bouquets of wild flowers. 'It got pretty serious, pretty quickly, it just kind of took off,' she says. 'At first it was kind of nice.' Then Lobos-Medina began drinking. 'The alcohol became a problem pretty quickly,' she says. Once he drank a six-pack of beer on the GO train to Toronto, then had more drinks at dinner, and still more at a concert they attended. 'He's very obnoxious. He's very touchy feely with everybody he sees. He's very rude.' And he uses slurs, she says. He repeatedly called Klimka a 'bitch' that night and talked to her about his sexual encounters with other women. She went home alone. Lobos-Medina wouldn't give her space. 'He was blowing up my phone all night. He was texting and calling non-stop.' But it wasn't to apologize. It was to berate her for being upset with him. After some more love-bombing, Klimka gave him another chance. That pattern — drunken bad behaviour, love-bombing, reconciliation — repeated. Soon, he added disappearing into the mix. 'He would just ghost me,' says Kimka. 'He would just disappear for days.' In September, the first alleged assault happened, at his apartment. Klimka says he'd had a tough day at work and was drinking. And crying. She says he grabbed her hand and bent it at the wrist to prevent her from leaving. She says this became a common occurrence, along with blocking the door, choking her, and preventing her from sleeping by pinching her, blasting music or 'body slamming' her while she lay in bed. Klimka thought she could help him with his drinking. Change him. In December 2024 she learned, through a third person, the truth about his past intimate partner violence charges. Klimka says she was devastated and didn't know whether to believe it or not. On Jan. 3, after a night at a bar, Klimka went back to Lobos-Medina's place. 'He is so wasted … He literally looks gone. His eyes are black. He's shaking. He's checked out. He proceeded to attack me,' she says. Klimka says he grabbed her by the shoulder and said he was going to teach her to protect herself. She says he punched her in the stomach and put her in a choke hold. He then grabbed a U-shaped bike lock and shoved it into her throat 'to strangle me.' He struck her in the temple 'over and over and over and over,' bent her wrist back and pulled out a switch blade, she says. 'I'm terrified and leaning back and trying to protect my face,' she says. 'He gets my hand instead.' He cut her hand several times, according to Klimka. 'I pushed him and I ran to the bathroom and I locked myself in. He's trying to break the door down, screaming at me.' Hours later, when Lobos-Medina passed out on the couch, she escaped. She told two people what happened — Lobos-Medina's mother and his boss. She says neither believed her. Klimka says she was afraid to report Lobos-Medina to police because of what he might do to her. 'Also, I was scared of admitting that I had allowed a lot of this to happen to me and opening myself up to criticism. I was terrified the police wouldn't believe me. And I can't mentally handle that.' She gave Lobos-Medina another chance. In mid-January, she was supposed to go for dinner with him and his mother. Because of a snowstorm, it didn't work out. He screamed at Klimka about it, she says. It was the last time she had contact with him. She reached out to Bezina, the girlfriend connected to Lobos-Medina's previous intimate partner violence charges. They talked. 'I realized I wasn't alone.' Then Klimka went to police. On Feb. 17, 2025, Hamilton Police arrested Lobos-Medina at his home. He was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of assault and breach of a court order — the peace bond related to Bezina. Lobos-Medina is out on bail and has a two-day, judge-alone trial scheduled for November. On Facebook, Klimka posted about her charges against Lobos-Medina and her experience dating him. More than a dozen women who claimed to have dated Lobos-Medina responded with disturbing stories of their own. This is not a unique phenomenon . Increasingly, survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence have found support online after sharing their experiences. Hearing the stories of other women not only makes them realize they are not alone, it sometimes inspires them to report the abuse to police – often in the hope of protecting other women from the same man. 'He put his hands on another woman. I wish I had somebody there for me when I went through it,' says Bezina, explaining why she is supporting Klimka. 'The justice system is not great,' she says, 'but I know there are people within it who care. My counsellor was absolutely wonderful. She tried to advocate for me.' Since the charges against Lobos-Medina were dropped in her case, Bezina says 'people look at you like you're a liar. 'The system itself isn't in a good working order. It's disappointing. It's heartbreaking. Especially when you feel like you ticked all the boxes they require, and to not even have a chance to speak for myself.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
USA Today
14 hours ago
- USA Today
Former Ohio State running back arrested on domestic violence in Broward County Florida
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