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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Harry Pothead has to do vanishing act
Gareth Hughes Daily Post, Wales
Thursday 23 Oct 2003 NORTH Wales drugs campaigner Jeff Ditchfield has wound-up some of the region's great and good on his website. Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom and former Rhyl Mayor Glyn Williams are among many who have been on the receiving end of his scathing digs at the establishment. But in film giants Warner Brothers, the cannabis cafe owner bit off more than he could chew. Mr Ditchfield, who was arrested recently within hours of opening his Beggar's Belief cafe in Rhyl, thought it would be amusing to publish a doctored picture of Harry Potter - dubbed Harry Pothead - smoking a spliff on his website. Warner Brothers were not amused and threatened legal action for using the picture without permission. Mr Ditchfield said yesterday: "Warner's solicitors threatened legal action. I told them that I had a picture of Bugs Bunny I could use instead but they weren' t happy with that either." The film company was alerted about the picture by 66-year-old Bernard Hargreaves, of Maud Street, who is a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator in West Rhyl. The pair have clashed previously over Mr Ditchfield's plans to open the cafe in the resort. Mr Hargreaves said: "He is my arch-enemy. I don't like what he stands for or the way he pushes his views. "Nobody disputes that cannabis can be therapeutic but that should be left to doctors and pharmacists to deal with, not to someone like Jeff Ditchfield." The cannabis cafe opened in Rhyl's Water Street last month and Mr Ditchfield said he would do everything to help people who need cannabis for pain relief. While checking the cafe's website, Mr Hargreaves was surprised to see a picture of Harry Potter. "Harry Potter is a very popular figure and I was concerned that children could easily come across the picture, especially as it was on the worldwide web," he said. Mr Hargreaves, who has six children, the youngest being only 11-years-old, contacted the Federation for Copyright Theft and then e-mailed Warner Bros., distributors of the film. "I was delighted when I learned that the image had been removed. It's a good result," he said. Following a police raid on his premises on the day of the official opening Mr Ditchfield was charged with possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
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