CANNABIS users are being let off by a top cop because he does not want to “harm their life chances”.

Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Dave Thompson has told MPs that he does not want to “criminalise lots of young people.”

2 David Thompson told MPs why he has instructed West Midlands Police officers to let off cannabis users Credit: BPM MEDIA

Officers are being advised not to charge or give a warning to everyone who is caught with the Class B drug.

West Midlands has been dubbed the ‘cannabis capital’ of the UK, with more cannabis plants found there than anywhere else in the country according to Home Office figures.

Speaking to MPs Thompson said: “We took some policy decision about what we do about cannabis.

“My answer is let’s not give everyone a cannabis warning it’s disastrous for their life chances.

Mr Thompson also told the Houser of Commons home affairs committee last week that his officers often found ‘huge amounts of cannabis’ when carrying out stop and searches for weapons.

How police chose to pursue investigations is an operational decision for chief constables Home Office spokesman

Speaking to the Daily Mail he added: “I don’t set out the strategy to criminalise lots of young people.

“My comments related to young people with small amounts of cannabis when we were looking for knives, for whom, there may be an alternative to a life-changing arrest and criminal convictions.

“Let me be clear the active pursuit of those who deal in the misery of drugs is a fundamental part of policing in the West Midlands.”

The force, which is the country’s second largest, seized more than 36,000 of the plants last year with an estimated value of £36millon.

Arrests for the possession and production of the drug across the region have fallen by 60 per cent in the last decade.

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A Home Office spokesman said: “There is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is harmful, which is why it is a controlled drug.

“Possession of cannabis is a criminal offence and supply an even more serious offence. The police have a range of powers at their disposal to deal with drug-related offences in a way that is proportionate to the circumstances of the offender and the public interest.

“How police chose to pursue investigations is an operational decision for chief constables but we are clear that we expect them to enforce the law.”

2 West Midlands Police seized 36,000 cannabis plants in 2018 Credit: Getty - Contributor

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