The case surrounding Britains youngest ever mother, who recently found herself in court convicted of possessing cannabis hi-lights perfectly well exactly what is wrong with the legal status of cannabis.
And where the anti-cannabis brigade will always proclaim there is no such thing as a victimless crime, in this instance its difficult to see how anyone could claim to be a victim in the whole distateful debacle, apart from the poor girl who was arrested in her own home.
It would be fair to assume once a person signs on for job-seekers allowance, with the amounts of public money the government throw at their Jobcentre Plus web operations and high street Jobcentres it would be a smooth and easy transition back into work. But the reality for the tens of thousands of unemployed Bridgend citizens is something else entirely.
A job centre is meant to be the central focus of a persons world if they are set on returning to work, (or even finding their first job).
But it seems from one Bridgend mans perspective, Bridgend Jobcentre is there to build barricades, not bridges. Ian Malley picks up the story;
It was May 15th 2009 when I first read about the MP expense scandals. I was sitting in Bridgend Jobcentre. Jumping through hoops attempting to make a claim for £100 per week jobseekers allowance for myself, my partner and her three children.
On a personal note spirits were high and my outlook was optimistic. Having retired from the transport industry some 4 years previously to concentrate on fighting a 20 year addiction to alcohol, for the first time in a long time my mind was clear of distractions.
