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UK: Dope cafe 'ready for the summer'
Mark Smith The Edinburgh Evening News
Friday 27 Dec 2002 THE man behind plans for a cannabis cafe in Edinburgh today announced an opening date next summer despite a Government warning that such ventures would remain illegal. Kevin Williamson, the book publisher who discovered Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, insisted he remained determined to press ahead with the project despite difficulties finding a willing landlord. The cafe, which would either sell cannabis or have a policy of tolerating smoking of the illegal drug on its premises, is likely to open on July 1 next year, the day that cannabis laws are to be relaxed across the UK. Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced that the drug will be reclassified on that day, becoming a class C drug rather than class B. The reclassification means that punishments for personal use will be less severe, although dealing in the drug could still incur a heavy jail sentence. Mr Williamson said that he had pencilled in the opening date and hoped that by then the change in the law would convince local authorities, including the police, to let the cafe trade. He said: "My plan is to open the cafe for business on July 1. It makes sense to do it on that day as that is when the law will change on cannabis classification. "Another factor is that there will have been a Scottish Parliament election by that time and there may be a different atmosphere, with more MSPs who support a sensible policy on cannabis elected to parliament." Mr Williamson admitted that he and his backers were still searching for a venue for the cafe. The Rebel Inc book publisher had initially planned to have the cafe up and running by the end of this year. But difficulties in convincing potential landlords that they would not get into trouble are understood to have been a major stumbling block. "We are looking at a number of options and we hope to have a place lined up and ready to go by February," he said. "When a place is lined up we will tell the local people first. We also hope to have the legal side of it sorted out so that landlords are not worried about becoming involved." Mr Williamson would not comment on which venues had been looked at so far, but it is understood that several places have been lined up only for the landlord to pull out when they realised what the venture was. The Grassmarket, Broughton Street and Cockburn Street are understood to be favoured areas for a venue for the cafe. Mr Williamson has already launched a recruitment drive for his venture, with a magazine advert attracting interest from more than 200 applicants. Staff have been lined up for the venture and have been informed of the planned opening date. Mr Blunkett's proposals to reclassify cannabis from a class B drug to a class C mean possession of small amounts of the drug will no longer be an offence worthy of arrest, and those caught with it will face only fines or cautions. But it remains unclear what action would be taken in the case of a "bring your own" cafe if its owners decided not to sell the drug on their premises to try to avoid prosecution. In Scotland, the police must report possession of cannabis to the procurator fiscal, but it is understood there is confusion in the service over what action it could take to bring a case to court under the new law. Mr Blunkett said that in most cases of cannabis possession, police officers will simply "issue a warning and seize the drugs". But in a bid to counter allegations that he was going "soft on drugs", he said the maximum sentence for dealing class C substances would be upped from five years to 14. A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Cannabis cafes which supply the drug to their customers are illegal and will continue to be so when the reclassification comes in next July. Anyone operating such a cafe will be prosecuted. "As for cafes where individuals use cannabis, these individuals would be liable to prosecution, but there is nothing specific in our guidelines about what would happen to the owner of such a place." Alistair Ramsay, director of the Scotland Against Drugs campaign, said: "It's vital that the message goes out that this does not mean the decriminalisation of cannabis, and that the courts now have the option of jailing the operators of cannabis cafes for 14 years."
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