The NSW police have been experiencing a PR nightmare recently but their latest escapade tops them all. In a woeful display of wasted resources, a Cheech and Chong show at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney’s Newtown was delayed as a team of 25 officers and 4 drug dogs screened the audience as they entered the foyer. The police were later seen at nearby pubs and the local railway station in search of more dangerous, middle aged pot smokers. In all, 6 people were found with small quantities of cannabis and were released without charge and instead were given a caution notice.Whilst your head is exploding, I am still wondering what prompted the NSW police to conduct this useless drug raid when no one was charged. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit into the category of being ‘tough on crime’ because no one was arrested. It doesn’t help the public feel safer because the targets were mostly grandparents watching a comedy show in a theatre. It wasn’t sending any sort of “drugs are bad” message as the audience were way past the lecturing stage. Who knows what the incentive was? Interestingly, Tommy Chong’s wife, Shelby said it was the first time she had police with dogs in the audience at a gig. I know the NSW police might want some publicity but being singled out as the only police force to ever use drug sniffer dogs for a well known international act is embarrassing. It was a poor choice to target 40+ year olds (including many grandparents) for the crime of possessing personal amounts of cannabis. Most of the target ‘criminals’ would be older working people made up of senior public servants, school principles, executives, high ranking police officers, business owners etc. It’s reassuring the NSW police are keeping us safe from these dangerous criminals.
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