A CAMPAIGN group to reform cannabis laws has condemned a Crimestoppers campaign.

NORML UK has attacked the Crimestoppers Scratch And Sniff campaign – which includes distributing cards to replicate the smell of cannabis and alert the public to commercial cannabis farms – for “wasting money and potentially victimising sick people who use cannabis as a medicine”.

Greg de Hoedt, a spokesman for the group, said: “Patients who use cannabis as a medicine are more likely to grow their own or get it from someone that grows rather than use the black market.

“This is hardly funding organised crime – it is the complete opposite and removes funds that would be going towards them.”

The cards are being distributed by police and Crimestoppers across areas including York and North and East Yorkshire.

A spokesman for Crimestoppers said commercial cannabis farms were associated with gang crime and other violent crimes involving firearms.