Brazen drug dealers are targeting children near schools by trying to sell them cannabis – using QR codes on lampposts.
Furious locals believe the stickers – of a shiny marijuana leaf with a scannable QR code below – are being used to tempt “impressionable” kids to get hooked on illegal substances. Dozens of the stickers have been placed at children’s eye level on lampposts near to Parkgate Junior School in Watford, Herts.
Once scanned, the code takes potential customers to a website – registered in the central American nation of Belize – advertising next day delivery on “premium cannabis products”. Some strains of weed even have offers and discounts – with as much as 33 per cent off.
Coun Asif Khan, who with other local residents has been out peeling the adhesive stickers off in recent weeks, says the stickers are “very concerning”. “It isn’t right to put them around schools,” the 48-year-old, who went to Parkgate Junior School himself and sent his two children there, said.
“You wouldn’t put stickers for smoking or alcohol around schools, would you? “I don’t want to get into a debate of whether or not cannabis should be legal; you shouldn’t be putting shiny stickers so near to schools.”
Dozens of the stickers – many of them now removed – were placed on lampposts and utility boxes on roads surrounding the school, which also has an Infants and Nursery school nearby. Coun Khan says he’s been told similar stickers have also been found in Airnnb accommodation in the area.
Stickers on high street lampposts in Watford tell readers: “It’s 420 somewhere” [a reference to a cannabis smoking event] and “Get your delivery.” “It’s a real campaign,” Coun Khan, a dad-of-two, said.
“They’re all over. It’s not just one person doing it. These stickers aren’t advertising to 40-year-olds – they are placed so low. They are plastered around this area and people say other areas have been plastered as well. It’s very concerning and completely unacceptable. We’ve got to look after our kids.
“It’s the gig economy: anything can be delivered to your door and now drugs are part of that menu.” A mum-of-two and teacher at a special education school who lives on the same road as the Parkgate School, said the stickers were “shocking”.
“It’s disappointing,” the 37-year-old, who gave her name as Kelly, said. “Opposite a school? Kids are very impressionable and vulnerable. Some [at Parkgate] are on their way into secondary school. There are QR codes for everything these days. The shiny aspect makes it look interesting.
“You have to educate your children not to scan any QR code. Some kids walk home by themselves. Even if it wasn’t drugs, it could be fraud or something.” Carol Helmke, who has lived in the area for around 30 years, said drug dealers were in competition for customers and had to come up with new ideas.
“I think it’s all targeted at the kids,” the 71-year-old mum-of-one said. “The drug dealers are all trying to out-do each other – it’s all about making money. They put these ideas in kids’ heads and make money out of it. [The stickers are] trying to get kids hooked.”
The mum-of-one added that she thinks kids growing up now have too much access to technology, saying: “My son’s first phone was a little Nokia. It was ideal for a child. I don’t agree with all this rubbish they put in phones. Kids these days have too much technology.”
Farzana Chaudry, who also went to Parkgate School as a child, agreed that police should be doing more to tackle drug dealers advertising drugs to kids. “The fact they have a QR code on there is concerning,” Ms Chaudry, who works in the pharmaceuticals industry and lives on the same road as the school, said.
“The stickers are directly opposite the school. Cannabis is perceived as a soft drug and these dealers are targeting the school. You know exactly who they are aimed at. We’re not stupid. You do see young lads on E-scooters going up and down the street.
“I have seen high-perforance cars sitting on the corners of the roads – it’s obvious why they are there. You don’t feel like you can confront them. You’re worried about your safety and your family’s safety. It’s shocking, making it so easy and so accessible to kids with mobile phones, offering discounts, trying to get them hooked.
“The stickers are really difficult to peel off as well. I think the police could do more: more patrols, acting on the fact that we find stickers next to schools. I know they are overstretched but they need to get a grip on these issues.”
Dealers have long-since used clever ways to sell their wares. In 2019 it emerged they were handing out professional business cards on university campuses. Students, many of whom are living away from home for the first time, are given instant access to Class A drugs – including cocaine, MDMA and ketamine – simply by calling mobile phone numbers printed on slick flyers.
Meanwhile organised crime networks operating County Lines drugs rings use hotlines to sell their drugs. And gang members exchange drugs for the phone numbers of known drug users, sending out blanket text messages.
Fake profiles on Instagram and Snapchat are also targeting children and young teens to get their hands on Class A drugs via seemingly unmoderated and unprotected social media platforms. Earlier this year “cannabis leaf stickers” – which depict a cannabis leaf, the words “Get your delivery” and a QR code – were put on street furniture, such as lampposts, in Droitwich, Worcs.
Last year the stickers were plastered over various streets in the cathedral city of Worcester. And hundreds of the stickers have also appeared on lamp posts, bollards and other street furniture in Orpington and Bexleyheath in South-East London. Areas of Soho and the Theatre District in central London have also bee targeted in the slick campaign by tech-savvy dealers.
Fears were also raised after the stickers were spotted near a set of traffic lights in Middlesbrough town centre – just a three-minute walk from a primary school. It was strategically placed on Borough Road where it was seen by children from Abingdon primary school, Teesside University students and commuters. Shrewsbury and Sutton Coldfield have also been targeted in the past.
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