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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Grassed up: Daily Star exposes drugs cafe on a busy UK high street Katie Bowler Daily Star UK Sunday 22 May 2016 Daily Star Sunday undercover investigators bought a gram of the illegal Class B drug for £20 from the seedy den above a clothes shop in east London. Our team watched for an hour as around 25 people bought bags of marijuana as easily as buying a cup of tea from a regular café – and then sat around tables puffing joints. The shady venue, dubbed “Adamsden”, had no shortage of customers and its owners freely advertise on social media and on business cards. The criminal enterprise brazenly operates during the evenings seven days a week. Its Instagram page, which has more than 4,000 followers, is regularly updated with photos of the latest cannabis in stock. The site also features “stoner selfies” and daily specials of hash cookies and space cakes. Posing as customers, our reporters entered the premises without being asked any questions and were able to buy weed dubbed “amnesia” from a man behind the counter. The man running the café, who spoke little English and was wearing black gloves, handed the drugs over and said: “Enjoy.” The entrance to the café is through a black steel-gated door next to the clothes shop. Hidden CCTV cameras were focused on people entering and leaving. On going in, customers are welcomed with a counter displaying a wide range of Class B cannabis in a variety of strains. There was also a huge selection of space cakes, hash cookies, rolling papers, soft drinks and snacks advertised to ‘“tackle the munchies”. Business cards advertising the café’s goods and services were also available from the counter. They even encouraged customers to post online feedback about their café experience. There were at least 25 customers inside and a steady constant stream of others passing through. Our source said: “Dealers are disguising cannabis cafés in normal-looking businesses and buildings. They are dotted all over London and other places like Birmingham and Leeds. “But they hardly ever get raided – it’s as if the police just turn a blind eye. “It’s a real underworld culture which you have to be invited into. There is never any trouble in the cafés, not like there is in nightclubs because everyone is too high to get into fights.” Rosanna O’Connor, director of alcohol, drugs and tobacco at Public Health England, warned of the dangers of cannabis. She said: “Any illegal drug use, including cannabis, can be dangerous, both from immediate sideeffects and long-term physical and mental health problems. “Cannabis use can contribute to and exacerbate existing mental health problems, or can accelerate their development in people predisposed to mental health problems”. Possession of a Class B drug could result in up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Police can also issue a warning or on-the-spot fine of £90 to anyone found with cannabis. Supplying or producing the drugs could lead to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/517266/Grassed-up-Daily-Star-exposes-drugs-caf-busy-UK-high-street
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