At the
July meeting Liz Johnson was acting President as Judith Walker
was away on holiday. Liz reminded us of forthcoming events.
There is to be a barbecue on July 27th at Dove Close by kind
permission of Ann and John "Huntifar". The Craft Exhibition
is September 1st open to all villagers. The Barford Group meeting
is at Shrewley Village Hall on September 24th.
Our speaker for the evening was Ray Alan, whose talk was entitled
"Busts I Have Known". The intriguing title was explained
by Alan who, it was revealed, is a retired member of the Warwickshire
Drug Squad. Alan served in the police for 17 years and then
as a plain clothes policeman in the CID. Before retirement,
he served 7 years in the drug squad. He went on to explain that
"bust" is a word used to describe the arrest of a
criminal. He covered a very wide area including Kenilworth,
Stratford, Studley, Shipston, Warwick and Southam. The Squad
consisted of Alan and one other. There is now no separate drug
squad in Warwickshire as the duties are incorporated into normal
police routine. In Alan`s time, there was no specific budget
for them, so although everything was supposed to be very low
key, they were issued with a very old car, the colour of which
was bright green.
The drugs they were looking for were mainly cannabis, amphetamines,
cocaine, ecstasy and LSD. Users have many ways of using their
drugs and of concealing them. Some examples were a biro, a small
keyring and a belt buckle, all of which, could be converted
into pipes for smoking cannabis! One user`s false teeth were
removed and proved positive for cannabis. He didn`t get his
teeth back until he pleaded guilty. Some single mums, who were
drug dealers, would hide the drugs in tea and coffee tins and
even under the mattress of their baby`s cot. The baby of a drug
addict mother would be born addicted and have to be weaned off
the drug. Alan showed us photos of cannabis plants, which can
take many forms and be very beautiful plants. In the process
of "busting" cannabis plant growers he would inhale
the fumes. Cannabis has been proved helpful to MS sufferers.
In tracking down those involved in the illegal use of drugs,
members of the public were relied on for giving helpful information
. Although having been retired now for 17 years, Alan`s talk
revealed his fascination for the job.
We don`t meet in August, so the next meeting will be September
11th, the speaker has yet to be arranged. On October 9th, the
speaker is Gillian White, who will tell us about "Mary
Queen of Scots"
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