Your Email:

Your Name:

To:

Subject:

Message:
Loophole Could Allow Drugs Cafes Cannabis clubs may run on bring-your-own basis, writes VICKY COLLINS and ROSAMUND SPINNLER THE reclassification of cannabis may leave a loophole in the law for “bring-your-own” cannabis cafes, The Herald has learned. While cafes that sell the drug over the counter in a similar way to the establishments in Amsterdam would be charged with dealing, it is not yet clear what would happen if cafe owners simply invited their customers to smoke cannabis on their premises. Kevin Williamson, founder of Rebel Inc publishing and the Scottish Socialist party’s spokesman on drugs policy, has already announced that he plans to open an Amsterdam-style cafe in Edinburgh. He said yesterday that the plan still stood.  “I’m hoping to open a cafe where cannabis would be openly smoked on the premises and the ultimate goal would be to have it on sale, with menus behind the counter similar to those they have in Holland. “It could be a members-only club so that we could regulate the age and make sure there were no under-18s.” However, Mr Williamson said he would have to take legal advice about the implications of selling the drug following Mr Blunkett’s announcement that the penalty for dealing would rise from five years in prison to 14. Both the home secretary and the Scottish Executive warned yesterday that cannabis cafes would not be tolerated. However, The Herald understands fiscals are unsure what action they would be able to take against a bring-your-own cafe. Under the new legislation, arrests for possession of cannabis would only be made “where public order is threatened or where children are at risk”. Neither police officers nor legal experts are sure whether smoking cannabis openly in cafes would fall into either of those categories, and said it would only be through decisions taken in practice that a policy could be formulated. While police in England and Wales have the power to give warnings to those found in possession, officers in Scotland must report possession of cannabis to the procurator-fiscal, who will then decide on what action to take. Norrie Flowers, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation ( SPF ), said Mr Blunkett’s announcement had put rank-and-file officers in a “very difficult position”. “If someone did open one of those cannabis cafes and just invited people to bring cannabis in then it would be very difficult to know what to do,” he said.  “At the end of the day, all we can do is report it to the procurator-fiscal.” Because police in Scotland do not have the power to caution and instead must report possession, there are concerns that Mr Blunkett’s claim that the change will give the police more time to concentrate on dealers and users of hard drugs may not apply in Scotland. Executive sources said police forces in Scotland were not currently spending time on the streets looking for people carrying small amounts of cannabis.  Both the SPF and the Association of Chief Police Officers warned there would be very few practical changes in policing. That warning was disappointing for drugs workers and families of addicts who had been hoping resources would be concentrated on the dealers of hard drugs. Colin Shanks, from Glasgow, whose children are both heroin addicts, welcomed Mr Blunkett’s announcement. Although his son, now 24, began smoking cannabis at 11 before moving on to temazepam and then heroin, Mr Shanks, 48, did not believe the link between cannabis and hard drugs was fully proven, saying that his daughter first encountered drugs in the form of amphetamines. He called for police to concentrate on stopping the sale of crack cocaine and heroin. “Nothing’s changed in Scotland in 15 years,” he said.  “The kids are still dying every week .  .  .  I think it’s better that they take hash and get chilled out rather than heroin or crack cocaine.” Former drugs czar Keith Hellawell has resigned his post as a government adviser in protest at the reclassification plans, claiming the move was “giving out the wrong message”. But a spokesman for the home secretary immediately hit back, claiming Mr Hellawell had privately backed the move last year. Tony Blair’s spokesman also said officials were “bemused” by Mr Hellawell’s comments.  “He hasn’t indicated any concerns on this front,” the spokesman said.  http://www.thehempire.com/index.php/cannabis/news/515/