Sheffield is getting terrible for knife/gun crime. I watched the 24 hours in police custody and 2 grand a week for selling weed and the casual way the girlfriend spoke about the murder victim carrying a gun made me feel I'm living in a different world too. However, there has always been crime, drugs, gangs throughout history.
I'm not being funny but what are people around South Yorkshire doing with guns? We're not downtown Brooklyn i don't understand what's happening to this area. Also happened closer to home at Wath https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-51078681
You can more or less walk anywhere around major towns n cities in the uk and smell it , either smoking it in homes or on the streets. Time to get stronger with offenders when caught
I prefer the legalise, tax and regulate route myself. Far better to do this than give all the benefits to the rogue community and let the state pick up all the costs. No I'm not a user myself, nor do I smoke tobacco.
And these youths were not from "da ghetto' but a provincial small town in the sticks. Sad indictment of what we are becoming as a nation.
Correct mate, a lot of them are playing dress up and getting involved in a life that they should have nothing to do with.
Just legalise, tax and regulate and be amazed at how many problems go away. I saw somewhere that 1 in 10 people in the UK smoke it regularly. Think how much tax that would bring in. Not to mention the fact that it's safer than both tobacco and alcohol and has incredible medical benefits.
The problem with cannabis is that the general public don't see what impact it can/does have on some people. Some of the worst episodes of drug induced psychosis i have seen (in-patient mental health) have been cannabis induced. I'm talking weeks sometimes of rabidly psychotic behaviours often leading to people having to be placed in secure services because they pose a significant risk to self and others.
Legalising it? No, I don’t think so. Legalisation brings billions back into the economy and away from back alley dealings. It also vastly increases the safety of the product itself. Weed has downsides, of course, but a lot less than alcohol or tobacco.
There will always be downsides. But whether they would be more or less than the downsides of tobacco and alcohol would have to be assessed. I'm in the legalise it camp. Never used the stuff myself and never will but to me there are benefits for some people from using it. Medically speaking. As for a social use that would have to be controlled in some way.
Poverty, crime, desperation, poor education, cycles of violence, parents who don't care or don't have the skills to bring kids up. Rinse and repeat. Viola.
Fewer than tobacco and alcohol, when all's said and done. For reference I use both of those, but never really got on with cannabis so don't touch the stuff.
Underfunded police, community services, lack of opportunity, increasing binary society where the very leaders of the country are seen to lie and cheat and get away with it.
Sheffield has always had an undercurrent of violent gang/drug related crime. Everyone on here over the age of 30 has heard of Lester Divers, Gatecrasher, Niche amongst some examples. Its down to its location. Just look at whats around it inside 50 miles. Its geographically perfect with its transport links. The city is awash with drugs. However, over the last 4-5 years the amount of violent crime as increased to such an extent that the majority of it never sees a new report unless these an arrest. theres about half a dozen shootings already and we are 13 days in.. Sheffield was a few years ago re branded as a "City of Sanctuary" which in turn lead to an influx of migrants, although a large percent have managed to rebuild their lives and get on with things. The problem arises with an ever increasing minority who are unable to move forward, be it their residency status, lack of education or simply down to the fact they prefer easy cash. Two grand a week is small play. A decent team could shift that a day on the sniff or Smack within a few hours. Alot of these migrants come from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, countries where violence is commonplace plus the influx of Albanians, Roma Slovak and smaller Eastern European crime gangs. They have absolutely no qualms in removing their rivals from the scene by whatever means required. And its not just drug related, there are the inevitable culture clashes as well. And because of their backgrounds, they have little fear of the police and consequences of their actions and if needed they just vanish due to the nomadic nature of their existence. Places like Spittal Hill, Firvale, The Wicker, Abbeydale Road are horrendous places to go. Even in the day time. Regular brawls are common place between gangs, as are stabbings and beatings. These gangs are putting pressure on the local gangs who are/were established and it becomes a fight fire with fire situation or get out of the kitchen. Those that cant match the ferocious nature of the newcomers get pushed through to the outskirts of the city and towards other towns. Those of you who live in Mexborough and Denaby have no doubt heard of the Pitsmoor Shotta Boys. They got pushed to the periphery. There's others who've found the same coming their way. This in turn means the local gangs of your Mexboros have to up their game and fight fire with fire or get steam rollered. Its a never ending circle. You can get a gun in Sheffield as easy as you can order a takeaway.
Just to point out the Police have said the 12 yr old was an innocent bystander not involved in drugs but some of the residents interviewed on the local news said it was a regular thing shots being fired