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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Hash Cafe Set to Open Before Change in Law Sam Halstead Edinburgh Evening news
Thursday 26 Jun 2003 THE man behind plans for a cannabis cafe in the Capital has said he is considering opening the venue before the Government relaxes the drug laws next year. Cult book publisher Kevin Williamson - who discovered Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh - had intended to open the cafe on July 1 when cannabis was expected to be reclassified as a Class C drug. But the Home Office has now said the softer penalties for smoking the drug will not come into effect until January at the earliest. Today, Mr Williamson said he was considering pressing ahead with plans to open the cafe without waiting for the law to be relaxed. He intends to meet with the backers of the project to discuss whether or not to open before the reclassification in January. "My gut feeling is we will move ahead despite this [delay in the Government's plans]. I will be consulting with the backers," said Mr Williamson, who accused the Government of backtracking under pressure from anti-drug campaigners. "The people who told us in November 2001 that the cannabis laws would be relaxed have lied after coming under pressure from anti-drug campaigners," he said. "I haven't worked on this for a year and a half just to give up." Mr Williamson's cafe would either sell cannabis or have a policy of tolerating smoking of the illegal drug on its premises. However, key questions about the implications of the proposed laws remained unanswered, he said. "Who would be legally responsible for the coffee shop, the managers or the owners? We have to look at this, we have had no information," the book publisher added. The delay in changing the drug laws is the second blow to Mr Williamson's plans after one of his backers pulled out last month. That has left him looking for someone else willing to invest up to UKP64,000 to avoid having to scale down the scheme. MPs have yet to vote on downgrading cannabis from a class B drug alongside amphetamines and barbiturates to class C. The Home Office has said the revised penalties for cannabis possession can only come into force after the Criminal Justice Bill is passed in parliament, and that is not now expected to happen until next year. A Home Office spokesman blamed the delay in bringing the Bill to parliament on the new penalties being included in the Criminal Justice Bill. "Reclassification will take effect when the new penalties for cannabis possession are in force, which is likely to be in January," he said. Mr Blunkett previously announced that the drug will be reclassified on July 1, becoming a class C drug rather than class B. The reclassification means that punishments for personal use will be less severe. 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.
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