RAPPER Snoop Dogg has been criticised by a drugs charity after he promoted the smoking of cannabis on stage at a Cumbria Festival.

After performing two songs while smoking a cigarette and surrounded by lights in the shape of a cannabis leaf, the artist finished his set by saying “I want my last words at Kendal Calling to be, everybody smoke weed.”

The festival crowd applauded the statement from the artist after his headline slot.

The move has seen Snoop Dogg criticised by a drugs charity in Cumbria, though cannabis was not listed as one of the potentially harmful substances in Cumbria Police’s information for the festival.

Helen Davies, service manager at CADAS who provide drug and alcohol services in Cumbria said: “It’s totally inappropriate, particularly with the incidents that happened over the course of the festival.

“Obviously it’s unlikely that he will have been told about a young man who died from substance abuse.

“Lots of people argue that it’s not the most dangerous drug and it probably isn’t, but you’re still at risk and breaking the law.

“I think that it’s confusing for people who look up to that kind of lifestyle to get the kind of message, which goes against what we’ve been trying to put out at the same time.”

Snoop’s final line also had a different tone from Kendal Calling’s numerous efforts to eliminate the use of drugs at the festival, including using sniffer dogs and posting warning messages on billboards across the site.

Cumbria Constabulary and Kendal Calling have declined to comment.