News (Media Awareness Project) - UK: Dutch-Style Cannabis Cafe Opens In Britain |
| Title: | UK: Dutch-Style Cannabis Cafe Opens In Britain |
| Published On: | 2001-09-15 |
| Source: | Guardian, The (UK) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-25 08:14:16 |
DUTCH-STYLE CANNABIS CAFE OPENS IN BRITAIN
The UK's only Dutch-style cannabis cafe opens today, selling bags of weed
and rolled joints from a shopfront in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The Dutch Experience will be run by Colin Davies, a sufferer of
debilitating back pain. Cafe staff will defy laws banning the supply of
cannabis, claiming that there is a moral obligation to provide the drug to
people who use it therapeutically.
Mr Davies is founder of the Medical Marijuana Co-operative, a non-profit
organisation which provides cannabis for multiple sclerosis and arthritis
sufferers who need the drug to ease pain, but do not want to buy it from
street dealers.
The Stockport cafe will sell three types of grass and three types of resin
in 2g and 5g bags, with ready-rolled joints for novices. It will operate
from a former restaurant, and will also sell coffee and cakes, but no alcohol.
Marijuana will be sold to both medical and recreational users, with social
smokers subsidising the low-cost medical users. The cafe will also act as a
meeting place for sufferers of chronic pain.
Mr Davies, 44, who once handed the Queen a bouquet containing marijuana,
has been acquitted twice of cultivating and selling the drug for medical
use. He feels his acquittals could be seen as test cases and is confident
that the cannabis cafe will stay open despite the fact that supply of the
drug is illegal.
Mr Davies said: "We want to be transparent and act in a civilised way. We
have got to get the medicine to the patients, so we aim to stay open with
the support of many local people. I feel it is immoral to withhold cures
from people experiencing acute pain."
Mr Davies previously told a court he smoked up to four joints a day to
relieve back pain after a fall at work in 1994. He will be assisted by
Dutch traders with experience of running similar licensed cafes in Amsterdam.
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester police said officers would not turn a
blind eye to the cafe. "It is illegal and we will have to deal with the
sale of any drugs," she said.
The UK's only Dutch-style cannabis cafe opens today, selling bags of weed
and rolled joints from a shopfront in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The Dutch Experience will be run by Colin Davies, a sufferer of
debilitating back pain. Cafe staff will defy laws banning the supply of
cannabis, claiming that there is a moral obligation to provide the drug to
people who use it therapeutically.
Mr Davies is founder of the Medical Marijuana Co-operative, a non-profit
organisation which provides cannabis for multiple sclerosis and arthritis
sufferers who need the drug to ease pain, but do not want to buy it from
street dealers.
The Stockport cafe will sell three types of grass and three types of resin
in 2g and 5g bags, with ready-rolled joints for novices. It will operate
from a former restaurant, and will also sell coffee and cakes, but no alcohol.
Marijuana will be sold to both medical and recreational users, with social
smokers subsidising the low-cost medical users. The cafe will also act as a
meeting place for sufferers of chronic pain.
Mr Davies, 44, who once handed the Queen a bouquet containing marijuana,
has been acquitted twice of cultivating and selling the drug for medical
use. He feels his acquittals could be seen as test cases and is confident
that the cannabis cafe will stay open despite the fact that supply of the
drug is illegal.
Mr Davies said: "We want to be transparent and act in a civilised way. We
have got to get the medicine to the patients, so we aim to stay open with
the support of many local people. I feel it is immoral to withhold cures
from people experiencing acute pain."
Mr Davies previously told a court he smoked up to four joints a day to
relieve back pain after a fall at work in 1994. He will be assisted by
Dutch traders with experience of running similar licensed cafes in Amsterdam.
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester police said officers would not turn a
blind eye to the cafe. "It is illegal and we will have to deal with the
sale of any drugs," she said.
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