I went from being a Drug Squad Detective to telling people to grow better drugs

When someone says I was a bit of a Boy Scout, that’s not an exaggeration. As a kid, I was in Cubs, then Scouts. Heck, I was patrol leader for Panther Patrol. I had a good family upbringing where I was taught right from wrong, as well as the dangers of illicit drug use.

Eventually, after I finished university, I chose a slightly different career path from my colleagues (I’d studied computer systems engineering) and joined the state police. I often tell the story that at the end of the first week at the academy, when everyone else was saying how they didn’t know if they’d made the right decision, I thought that it was the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere.

After a few years in uniform, a position came up at the Drug Squad. I had helped on a few investigations and enjoyed that type of work, so I applied. I was wrapped when I got the job.

In my state at the time, cannabis was still unlawful to possess, grow, and supply. Recent legislative changes, though, meant that possession of personal-use quantities, without offenses of violence, meant a person could be sent to drug diversion. Drug diversion was essentially sitting someone down to watch a video akin to Mr. Mackey from South Park saying, “Drugs are bad, Mkay.”

Most of my work revolved around targeting major illicit growers, manufacturers, and suppliers. I wasn’t that keen on dealing with the social smoker, and for users of other substances, I would try to get them legitimate help where possible. I don’t think that I ever got it totally right, and my naivety about drug use vs. drug addiction showed me that it was more than just a law enforcement issue.

So, fast-forward a few years later, I’d left policing and found myself in government regulatory roles. I’d regulated health and safety, environmental protection, even spam (the email, not the tinned meat – that’s beyond regulation). When I saw a job advertised regulating medicinal cannabis growers and manufacturers. That piqued my interest.

I applied, and in the end, it came down to me and one other candidate. Eventually, he lost out because he wouldn’t move to take up the role.

Over the years, I’d learned about some of the legitimate medical benefits of cannabis. I’d had a great deal of empathy for people who were unable to get CBD oils to assist them with serious ailments and had to choose to move to other jurisdictions. Scenarios involving children hit me particularly hard.

This role allowed me to build a compliance function and teach my team about regulating a new industry (well, a new regulated industry – cannabis cultivation has been around for a while). Some of my team were adopting a law enforcement approach, but I had to explain that these people had government licenses, approval to grow, and probably weren't used to working in a regulated industry. From that perspective, we should take a more educative approach. It took a while, but the message finally got through to the team.

Likewise, many industry players had a very negative impression of the regulator; license processing took a long time, fees were expensive, and the compliance program was fully cost-recovered. Despite the economic benefits of growing medicinal cannabis, it was still a costly exercise.

I had to build bridges with the industry that I was regulating. I had to remove some of the fear and grow something of my own, some trust with the industry. I’m a pretty genuine guy, so I went out to meet with them. I shared our compliance strategy to get their buy-in, and it worked. Before long, regulated growers started reaching out to me, especially with concerns about some of the less-than-honest players in the industry.

Here I was now, an ex-Drug Squad detective who was writing to cannabis growers saying, “You’re supposed to be growing a better strain of cannabis than you are.” Short of me becoming an illicit grower, there’s not much more of a U-Turn your career can take.

I left the role after about a year because I’d been offered another job I thought was a great opportunity (it wasn’t), and I’ve always regretted leaving.

Today, my attitudes are very different from when I was a child, and they keep evolving. Just before I finished at that regulator, we were introducing legislation to allow for the use of MDMA and psilocybin in medical treatments.

Interesting times ahead, and hopefully a better outcome for all.

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