Police officers suffer sickness and headaches from cannabis plants held at station

Over 600 plants were seized from a villa in Calpe (Alicante) and two British nations arrested last week, and since then, members of the National Police have reported constant headaches, feeling sick, dizziness and mental impairment akin to drunkenness.

They say inmates who are held in custody pending further inquiries or trial are also complaining of the same symptoms.

And nearby residents say the smell of marijuana is very intense in the street.

Police union SUP says this is the ministry of health's fault for dragging its heels when it comes to collecting and destroying hauls of drugs seized by officers.

When illegal substances are confiscated, the police force in question has to report the matter to the Territorial Delegation for Consumption and Health so that the Pharmaceutical Inspection Department for the province of Alicante can make an appointment to take a sample of the drugs and analyse it.

Once it has been officially examined, officers are told what to do with the drugs and how to destroy them.

But during this process, the remainder of the haul is kept at police stations – even though legal procedures dictate that it should be kept in closely-guarded surroundings in a ministry of health building and should be destroyed as soon as possible to prevent health problems to employees.

The SUP says this is a frequent problem in the province of Alicante and that by the time the Pharmaceutical Inspection Department comes to take a sample of the plants seized, they will have been in the police station for 10 days and will remain there until the testing process is complete.

It says if the relevant authorities do not take action to speed up the drug-destruction process considerably, it will take legal action against them.