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Police roll up to protester's cannabis cafe
Tony Thompson The Observer
Saturday 15 Sep 2001 A campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis was questioned yesterday by police after he tried to open Britain's first Amsterdam-style cafe to sell the illegal drug. Colin Davies, 44, was arrested after he was involved in scuffles with officers in the doorway of the Dutch Experience cafe, in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Davies, who has smoked the drug to relieve pain since breaking his spine four years ago, said before his arrest that he wanted to offer the drug to sick people to help relieve their symptoms. 'He's a healer, not a dealer,' shouted one of his supporters as Davies was put into the back of a police van. A police spokesman said: 'A 44-year-old man from Stockport was arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis with intent to supply. A further man, along with four Dutch people, three men and a woman, were arrested on suspicion of being concerned with the supply of a Class B drug. All six are in custody, and the shop is now closed." Just one uniformed officer was outside the cafe at 9.30am, half an hour before it was due to open. But there were undercover detectives in the area, and Davies was involved in the scuffle as he tried to push a wheelchair user into the cafe. Other people in wheelchairs openly smoked cannabis as police watched. Among his supporters was Kate Bradley, a former police officer in the West Midlands force, who has smoked cannabis since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1991. Mrs Bradley, who is in her fifties and from Telford, Shropshire, was pushed out of the cafe in her wheelchair by a friend after police entered the shop. She said it had been a frightening experience to be inside when the police entered. Davies's father, Colin, 77, said he supported his son: 'I have seen the benefit cannabis has had on Colin.' Campaigners continued to protest outside the cafe, as the ribbon which had meant to be cut for its opening lay in tatters on the floor. Inside the shop, decorated throughout in red, were empty tables and chairs, each with an ashtray. Cigarette papers were scattered about. Steve Taylor, a GP based in nearby Prestwich, said: 'As a doctor, I see the harm that cannabis does to people.'
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