The
cannabis debate: a question of choice?
Source: Sunderland Echo, UK
Pub Date: 21 May 2004
Section: Daily Feature
Subj: The cannabis debate: a question of choice?
Drugscope
http://www.www.drugscope.org.uk/
National
Drugs Helpline http://www.ndh.org.uk/
The cannabis debate: a question of choice?
DRUGS are a subject of constant social debate
and none more so, it seems, than cannabis.
The debate over legalisation of the
recently-reclassified Class C drug is intense, and in one Wearside market town
is focussed on a so-called “cannabis café”, whose owners describe it as “a
little taste of Amsterdam”.
EMILY McCARRICK spoke to café owners Peter and
Lynda Watson, who do not supply cannabis to their customers but who strongly
promote the campaign for legalisation.
We asked why they chose to pursue such a
controversial agenda and how they feel about accusations of drug dealing that
have been levelled at them.
AS YOU enter Haschischins you are aware of being
watched from the front door by CCTV cameras.
The walls are festooned with flags displaying
the cannabis leaf logo, staff uniforms bear the familiar symbol of all things
dope and the visitors book asks “mashheads” not to graffiti the pages.
It is very much a themed café, using cannabis as
a gimmick but many people have been upset by its lighthearted take on drug
use.
Owner Peter Watson, 51, and his wife Lynda, 48,
opened the café in November 2003 after seeing a niche in the coffee shop market
in the little town of Chester-le-Street.
With the help of a varied menu, live music and a
relaxed and friendly atmosphere, the Watsons have provided residents with an
alternative to a night in the pub.
Lynda said: “I am a recovering alcoholic and I
know it would kill me if I start drinking again.
“I decided to open the café so I had somewhere I
could relax on an evening with friends without the temptation of having a
drink.”
As well as being café owners, the Watsons are
fervent supporters of freedom of choice and their menus promote the Legalise
Cannabis Alliance (LCA). Both admit to smoking cannabis.
Lynda said: “I suffer from spondolosis and
arthritis and have been prescribed a cocktail of 28 tablets a day by my doctor.
“They don’t even take the edge off the pain. A
controlled amount of cannabis, either smoked or eaten, allows me to ease the
pain and lead a relatively normal life.
“I don’t agree with cannabis resin, because that
has been touched by man but how on earth can you ban a plant?”
Peter added: “We support cannabis in its most
natural form. The stuff that is sold on the streets is brought in by organised
crime gangs.
“Surely it would make more sense if we stopped
financing them, plus the stuff is rubbish; it’s adulterated. They use low-grade
dust or resin, mix it with coffee to give it the right colour, and turpentine
to give it the right smell.
“Essentially, people are smoking potassium
chloride. This is what happens when you force cannabis onto the streets.”
Both Peter and Lynda deny ever selling drugs
from the premises, but do admit that initially they did have a few customers
who got the wrong impression.
Lynda said: “When we first opened up, there was
a rumour that we were selling heroin from the premises, which is completely
ridiculous.
“We ended up with half the users in the area on
our doorstep. Luckily, people now know we have nothing to do with heroin here
and they have backed off.”
She added: “These days we do get people coming
along and asking for advice. I am not a professional, but I will talk to people
about my personal experience and try to help them.
“We also get quite a few older people looking to
us for cannabis to ease the pain of illnesses, from arthritis to multiple
sclerosis.
“I will tell them how to put cannabis in food
and tell them not to smoke it because I don’t want them getting addicted to
nicotine if they don’t already smoke but I don’t sell them drugs.”
Peter said: “I think some people have
preconceptions before they visit the café. They expect it to be full of kids
looking for drugs, but that’s not the case.
“On an evening our members come to the café to
relax. They are professionals; ordinary hard-working members of society.”
The Watsons’ forthright views and tolerant
attitude to cannabis have not gone unnoticed by the authorities.
Lynda said: “We know the police are watching us
and we get a beat copper in every so often.
“We don’t serve alcohol or sell drugs, yet our
customers leave the café after a night out with a smile on their faces.
“They are not the ones being sick on the
pavement and urinating up the walls. They are not the ones starting fights and
taking up police time.”
Mr and Mrs Watson have never denied that they
are pro-legalisation and some residents have complained about the existence of
the café. One lady even took a sample of food away, convinced it had been laced
with drugs.
Peter said: “I told her she was welcome to take
food away with her. We will advise people who want to cook with cannabis, but
we would never put drugs in the food we serve.
“Above all else, we believe in freedom of choice
and we would never take that away from someone else.”
Peter and Lynda admit there is a serious heroin
problem in Chester-le-Street: they have had to deal with drug addiction on a
very personal level, as Lynda’s son was a user, so they say they would never
advocate the use of hard drugs.
Lynda said: “I would never encourage people to
use any class A or class B drugs and that includes cannabis resin. I have seen
the damage they can do to my own family.”
Peter said: “I do not believe cannabis is a
gateway drug. If anything is a gateway drug, it is cigarettes but I can’t see
them becoming illegal.”
On the streets, we find views on the hashish
controversy are still mixed
ASIDE from the small number of complaints which
Durham Police say have been levelled against the café, what do residents think
about the place, and the Watson’s beliefs?
Chatting to shoppers on Chester-le-Street’s
Front Street, it is difficult to believe that Haschischins has provoked so many
complaints.
Most people we spoke to hadn’t even heard of the
café until we pointed it out.
Deborah Robson, 33, who has a seven year-old
son, Luke, can’t see what all the fuss is about.
Deborah said: “The café doesn’t cause any
problems in the area. Most people haven’t even heard of it, so I don’t see how
it can be encouraging children to take drugs.”
Young people we spoke to were more interested in
the food and unconcerned about the drugs theme of the café.
Students Natalie Dodds, 17, and Jill Hoogewerf,
18, said they had been in the café a few times for something to eat and had never
seen any signs of drug taking or dealing.
Natalie said: “The food is nice and I had a
quick look at the information on offer. I’m not really interested in drugs, but
I suppose if I was, it would be good to have somewhere to go and get
information.”
Jill said: “I have eaten in the café a couple of
times. I don’t really think about the drug connection: it’s just another café.”
On the other hand some people are worried about
the message the café is sending to children, especially as Chester-le-Street,
like most other towns in the country, has experienced the problems associated
with drug use.
Jamie and Sarah Walsh have a baby daughter,
Robyn, and are concerned that a café promoting drug use has opened in the area.
Jamie said: “If people need drugs for medical
reasons I think it is doctors who should be providing information and not
cafés.
“The café encourages people to take drugs and
once they’ve tried cannabis what are they going to take next? I don’t think
promoting drugs at all is a good idea.
“We both know people who take drugs and are off
their heads a lot of the time. It is not right to have somewhere on the front
street where children hang around that says it is OK to take drugs.”
The Walsh family were not the only people we
spoke to who thought the café was a bad idea.
Dorothy Hook, 62, has noticed a lot of children
hanging around in the area and thinks the café encourages them.
Dorothy said: “This area is always full of
children waiting for buses or just hanging around, so I think it is quite
dangerous having a drugs café at this end of town.
“It makes children think it is OK to take
drugs.”
Police say it remains a ‘gateway drug’
ALTHOUGH Haschischins is operating within the
law, Durham Police are monitoring the premises and are worried about the
message the café sends out to the local community especially as cannabis has
long been seen as a “gateway drug” that leads users to progress to classes A
and B alternatives.
Inspector Dave Marshall, of Durham Police, said:
“We are obviously concerned that such a premises is open in Chester-le-Street
and the message it is sending to young people in particular.
“The police are watching the premises carefully.
Although the owner is not breaking the law we will still be paying regular
visits.”
He added: “Since cannabis has been reclassified
a lot of people seem to think it has become legal, which is not the case. I
have seen so many decent families ruined by drugs.
“There are no soft drugs and in my experience
cannabis leads many users on to harder drugs. Chester-le-Street does have a
drug problem and unfortunately the police see the destruction that is caused by
both dealing and dependence on drugs in our area.
“In my opinion cannabis is a gateway drug, so
the fact that the café promotes cannabis could encourage children to try it and
possibly experiment with harder drugs in later life.”
Expert says don't under-estimate risks
PROFESSOR of clinical psychopharmocology at
Newcastle University, Heather Ashton, has researched the effects of drugs on
the body and mind and warns people not to underestimate the kind of long-term
problems they could face even with so-called “soft” drugs like cannabis.
Prof Ashton said: “People often make the mistake
of thinking cannabis is harmless, because it has become fairly socially
acceptable to smoke it, even though it is still illegal.
“It takes one month for a spliff to work its way
through your system, so people who say they smoke recreationally and claim it
has no effect on their day-to-day life are wrong.
“I bet if you gave them an arithmetic test they
would perform worse than people who have never taken drugs.
“Heroin, which has the worst reputation of all
the drugs, doesn’t effect a person’s mental performance as much as cannabis
does, and amphetamines and cocaine can even improve mental performance
although they do have their own very unpleasant side-effects.”
Most people are familiar with the image of soap
star Daniella Westbrook with half of her nose missing after years of cocaine
abuse destroyed her septum.
Prof Ashton explains: “What essentially happened
in this case was that the cocaine constricted the blood vessels to the nose
and nasal gangrene occurred.
“Cocaine has a very similar effect on the brain,
as well as causing blood clotting, high cholesterol and elevated blood pressure
and thus increasing the possibility of a heart attack or organ failure.
“The more cannabis you smoke, the higher your
tolerance to the drug becomes, which means you need to take increasing
quantities of the weed to get the same high.
“When your tolerance levels peak and the drug’s
effects are limited, users could look elsewhere for their kicks.
“Drug dealers don’t usually sell just one drug.
So if you’re buying cannabis from someone, it won’t be long before you’re
offered something a little stronger.”She added: “Cannabis is most certainly a
gateway drug which does lead some people to seek greater highs from stronger
substances.
“In the same way that around five per cent of
people who drink alcohol become alcoholics, five per cent of cannabis users
become addicts and turn to harder drugs to get a high.
“If you think about the amount of people
addicted to cigarettes and alcohol in this country, imagine how many people
would suffer the same problems with drugs if they were legalised.
“We need to protect vulnerable people who could
become addicted, by making sure cannabis and other drugs remain controlled
substances.”
Campaigners for legalisation
THE Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) was formed
to make the legalisation of cannabis a major issue in British politics.
LCA press officer Don Barnard said: “Our goal is
the full legalisation of cannabis, rather than winning us enough seats to form
a Government, although our candidates in all elections would take the seat if
they won it. “Beyond legalisation, we would like to see the increased
utilisation of cannabis and its products for the betterment of society and the
world.”
LCA leader Alun Buffry added: “The Legalise
Cannabis Alliance campaign only for the legalisation and utilisation of
cannabis, which is a wide issue that covers many aspects of our daily
Useful points of contact
North East Council on Addiction 0191 383 0331
DrugScope 020 7928 1211, www.drugscope.org.uk
National Drugs Helpline 0800 77 66 00, www.ndh.org.uk
Sunderland Community Addictions Team 0191 510
8933 Legalise Cannabis Alliance www.lca-uk.org
Haschischins Cafe 0191 388 3332.