Mal Fletcher comments on the decision by Durham police not to take future action against many private growers and users of cannabis

After all, the potential dangers to human wellbeing presented by the use of marijuana and its variants have often been widely acknowledged within the medical community.

In a number of studies, the drug has been linked to the development of psychosis.

This effect is exacerbated by stronger variations on the theme such as skunk. According to Cannabis Skunk Sense (CanSS), a UK charity, this is the variety of cannabis that is smoked by 80 to 90 percent of users in Britain.

It contains on average, they say, a 16.2 percent content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical which acts on the brain and emotions. Apparently, the Dutch government, famously liberal for its drug policies - until relatively recently, at least - considers any cannabis with a THC content of over 15 percent to be a Class A drug.

A few years ago, a mother by the name of Julie Myerson published a book in which she shared the pain her family endured as they tried to help her teenage son overcome a life-controlling addiction to skunk.

Her story of 'tough love', retold in the nation's press and media, was both harrowing and inspiring. Ms Myerson 'outed' her son as a drug user in her controversial book The Lost Child, which was nominated for the Man Booker Prize.

In it she described how her son Jake stole from the family and fought with them when they tried to banish him from the family home in order to protect younger siblings.

At the time, Jake described his mother as the 'worst mother in Britain', only to publicly recant and thank her for the tough love approach five years later.

We can only wonder at the fate of those children and young adults who, unlike Jake Myerson, don't have parents who are equipped or willing to take such a resolute and painful stance.

Now, Durham families who might decide to do just that are being told that they should expect scant support from their local police service.

In the same way, drug-related charities will doubtless find the news disheartening. It is so often they, not government services, that provide effective rehabilitation programmes and ongoing personal support for recovering addicts.

A 2015 poll by the Centre for Social Justice think tank found that 69 percent of 100 UK charities surveyed would be concerned if the Government decriminalised cannabis. Seventy-three percent were concerned about the effects cannabis had on their clients and families.

If Prime Minister David Cameron is still even mildly interested or invested in his Big Society idea, developed in the last government, he should realise that engaging third sector organisations to solve community problems requires that government and its agencies instil confidence.

Charities need to know that law-makers and law-enforcers are on the same page when it comes to reducing drug usage.