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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Site sought for cannabis cafe
Somerset County Gazette
Friday 02 Nov 2001 Taunton could soon be home to the West Country?s first cannabis coffee shop. Mike Cottee, of Belmont Road, Taunton, is one of three businessmen who are looking for premises and hope to open the shop as soon as possible. Their move follows a Government announcement last week that the law on cannabis is to be relaxed. The drug is being reclassified from class B to class C, meaning police will no longer be able to arrest people for smoking it. Although cannabis will remain illegal, Mr Cottee said he did not think the police would interfere. "We really can't see the police being too concerned about it," he said. He added that getting planning permission would not be a problem either since, as far as planners were concerned, his premises would be just another coffee shop. But Conservative Taunton MP Adrian Flook condemned the plans and claimed he had the support of the majority of the public. He said: "Most people will agree Taunton's not the place for opportunists to experiment with their drug habits." Taunton Deane Council leader Jeffereson Horsley, a Liberal Democrat, welcomed the change in the law but said his initial response to the coffee shop plans was "not a lot". He said: "I do welcome the declassification of cannabis from B to C because, if it does free up the police, then maybe they can concentrate more on tackling the real problems." He added that planners might not be able to do anything to block the coffee shop. "He may well be able to get premises that already have planning permission and we could do nothing about it," he said. A police spokesman said allowing people to smoke cannabis on the premises would still be illegal, although the law change could lead to a change of police policy. He said: "In terms of the recent announcement by the Home Secretary, it's early days to make Any statement about how such a change will affect matters. There could be wide-ranging implications that would mean we would need to properly review our policies and practices to ensure a consistent approach."
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