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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis cafe owner sells up after a month Jason Cumming Edinburgh Evening News Tuesday 02 Mar 2004 THE owner of Scotland's first cannabis cafe is selling up after only a month in business. Purple Haze Cafe operator Paul Stewart blamed stress along with ongoing "harassment" by the authorities for the decision to put the lease to the premises on Portland Street, Leith, on the market. But he also admitted his members-only cannabis club was attracting only about a dozen people nightly and he expects to lose about 25,000 UKP on the deal. The 37-year-old former landscape gardener said: "I've had enough. It's been very, very stressful not just setting up the members' club but running the cafe as well. I'm going to continue the struggle in a more central location and I want to open a 'smart shop' selling legal highs to make people aware that they don't have to take chemicals." Since being arrested along with two customers only hours after the cafe opened on January 29, Mr Stewart says he has been visited at least twice weekly by police and also faced regular inspections by the local authority's environmental health department. He claims to have invested 45,000 UKP in the former greasy spoon and is considering offers over 20,000 UKP for the lease - which has about eight years to run. Mr Stewart said it would be up to whoever takes the lease to decide how the cafe should be run. Members who paid 5UKP to join Purple Haze were promised they would be able to use the drug on the premises - despite police warning the practice would be illegal. Although it is "tobacco free", backers said anyone wishing to take cannabis after 4pm could use a vaporiser machine, which eliminates 99 per cent of the carcinogenic substances of the drug. The cafe opened as the narcotic was officially reclassified from Class B to Class C by the Government. But as cannabis use remains illegal, Lothian and Borders Police have maintained a close watch on the premises and handed out leaflets at the door warning that anyone in possession or using the drug could face arrest. Mr Stewart does not sell the drug and insists he was only aiming to provide a "safe environment" for his customers to relax in. He maintains it would be impossible for him to check which substances members choose to use on the premises. Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan signed up to become a member of the cafe, which drew more than 100 people to its opening. Mr Stewart added: "We've put the debate into the open again and it's been discussed at high levels. We did create a small piece of Scottish history and it was the most talked about cafe in the world for a couple of weeks, so I haven't got any regrets." He expects the cannabis cafe to remain open until at least the end of June. Mr Stewart said he planned to open a shop specialising in "legal highs" such as imported magic mushrooms and herbal ecstasy in Edinburgh's Southside by the summer. But anti-drugs campaigners today suggested that Mr Stewart's decision to quit was a warning to any similar entrepreneurs. Alistair Ramsay, director of Scotland Against Drugs, said: "There has been a significant overestimate in the number of people who want to use this kind of service and this demonstrates that anyone else trying to flaunt the law is also likely to pay a pretty high cost."
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