The Commissioner of Police has hit back at claims by a pro-cannabis campaigner that police knew he was growing cannabis and did nothing about it.

Alan Gordon released statements to the media this week saying he had cultivated more than 80 plants this year and distributed it with the Bermuda Police Service’s ‘full prior knowledge’.

But Commissioner Michael DeSilva said: “The suggestion from Mr Alan Gordon that the BPS has condoned his actions with cannabis is completely misguided.

“Mr Gordon wrote to me in February of this year stating his intention to apply to the courts for permission to grow cannabis.

“He did not indicate to the police at the time, or any time after, that he was actually growing or “ferrying” cannabis.

“A court order granting his request was never forthcoming, presumably because one was not granted.

“I will not be drawn into the cannabis debate — legalisation, decriminalisation or status quo.

“As I have already said publicly, this is a matter for the country’s policymakers, not the police.

“But what I will point out is that, in the meantime, cultivation, possession and supply of cannabis remain prohibited in Bermuda by the Misuse of Drugs Act.

“The BPS is obliged by law to take enforcement action against any person who is suspected on reasonable grounds to have committed any of these offences.

“It is not a defence to say, “They didn’t tell me I couldn’t do it.”