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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Rebel publisher plans cannabis cafe
Stephen Khan The Observer
Sunday 25 Nov 2001 The magazine turned publishing house that gave the world its first glimpse of Irvine Welsh's drug-fuelled novel Trainspotting is to join the cannabis revolution by opening an Amsterdam-style cafe in Edinburgh. Fans of the book that was turned into one the most successful films of the 1990s will, however, be disappointed if they hope to find real-life equivalents of characters such as Begbie or Spud lurking inside. Rebel Inc the cafe will be no underworld dive. Rebel Inc was launched from an Edinburgh bookshop by Kevin Williamson with the help of emerging writers such as Welsh in 1992 and ran extracts of their books. Now Williamson will throw open the doors of his coffee shop early next summer. Hoping for a tenth anniversary launch date of 1 May, he is billing it as an urban retreat where cannabis users will be able to relax in a culturally stimulating environment. 'The coffee shop will be called Rebel Inc and will be a cultural centre where art and literature can flourish,' Williamson said, adding that book launches could take place there. 'What we want is a pleasant environment - the opposite of a drunken pub.' He will also tackle the small matter of such establishments' illegality before opening up and sees the police strategy towards prostitution in the Scottish capital as providing a blueprint for the future of cannabis use. 'In Edinburgh we have a situation where prostitution is illegal, but because of an agreement between the police, the council and saunas the women are able to work from places that are basically toleration zones. As a result prostitutes face far less danger in Edinburgh than in other cities, such as Glasgow. It makes the police's job much easier as well. 'The toleration of the supply of cannabis would also make their job much easier.' However, he added that Rebel. Inc would be prepared to open without the consent of the police. 'We would open anyway but I don't want to break the law. That's not what this is about. I'd like to see this leading the way to national legalisation.' Williamson revealed his plans just days after Colin Davies's Dutch Experience, the UK's first cannabis coffee shop, was shut by police in Stockport nearly two months after it opened, but he said that would not not deter him. 'The people are moving ahead but the Government is dragging its heels - the majority want change, they want a stop to people being prosecuted for using cannabis.' Having discussed his plans with campaigner Howard Marks and Scottish Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan, he is convinced change is in the pipeline. 'A movement is already under way and we are keen to affiliate Rebel Inc to that. By next summer this will be huge, because the public is starting to see something concrete. The cannabis cafe is an idea whose time has come.' The filth, disease and violent crime of Edinburgh's heroin scene was graphically portrayed in Trainspotting and Williamson wants to see cannabis taken out of that equation. 'We must take cannabis away from the heroin dealers. People who want to use cannabis should not have to go into the estates and buy it from gangsters,' he said. The right to use the name Rebel Inc for publishing purposes was leased to Edinburgh's Canongate but that runs out at the end of this year, when Williamson will move the organisation into a new phase that will see the cultural centre at its heart. 'The cafe will be part of the cultural movement that is Rebel Inc. 'Rebel Inc has never just been about books and the next stage in its evolution will include the internet and multimedia publishing.'
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