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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis cafe owner to move out
BBC Online Tuesday 02 Mar 2004 Scotland's first cannabis cafe has been put up for sale by its owner because of the "stress and pressure" of starting the business. Paul Stewart said he was selling the Purple Haze cafe in Leith but hoped to start a similar venture nearer the centre of Edinburgh. The premises were run as a conventional cafe by day but at night became a club for cannabis users. It was backed by some MSPs but was condemned by the first minister. The Purple Haze Cafe, a former greasy spoon, was operated as a private members' club. When it opened, Mr Stewart said it would be "tobacco free" but anyone wishing to take cannabis would be able to use a vaporiser machine, which is claimed to eliminate 99% of the carcinogenic substances of the drug. Politicians divided Mr Stewart said he wanted to highlight the discrepancy between the way that the reclassification of the drug was being implemented on different sides of the border. "In the rest of the UK the presumption of arrest has been taken away, but that presumption still remains in Scotland," he said. The opening of the cafe highlighted a split amongst Scotland's politicians. Scottish Socialist Party MSPs Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne signed up to become members of the cafe. But Jack McConnell said Scottish police forces would continue to report cases involving cannabis to procurators fiscals, who would then consider what action should be taken.
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