IT'S NO PIPE DREAM: CANNABIS CAFES OPEN IN U.K.

Relaxation Of Soft Drug Laws Has Police Looking The Other Way

STOCKPORT, England - It seems at first like an ordinary coffee house.
Customers linger over lattes, chatting, reading newspapers, playing cards
or chess. Hip music pulses from the sound system. A haze of smoke dances in
the air.

But take a deep breath, and you realize that many customers are smoking
marijuana or hashish.

Opened last September in the unremarkable northern town of Stockport, the
shop, Dutch Experience, is the first so-called "cannabis cafe" in Britain.
This month, a similar establishment opened in the coastal city of Bournemouth.

Even though pot remains technically illegal, more of the shops are sure to
follow. With the British government set to loosen laws on soft drugs, a
dozen entrepreneurs across the land have vowed to open coffee houses that
serve marijuana in all its forms.

Not everyone likes the idea of pot parlors springing up on British streets,
but marijuana fans feel their favorite plant is finally starting to win
acceptance.

"The tide is turning," said Bee, a social worker who came to smoke grass at
Dutch Experience on a recent afternoon.

"One day, having a joint in public will be as normal as having a
cigarette," she added, declining to give her last name.

Britain is not raising the white flag in the war on drugs. On the contrary,
the government is clamping down on hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
But there is a clear trend toward tolerating marijuana, mainly as a way to
free up police to fight other crimes.

In the coming months, the British government is expected to reclassify
marijuana so that possession is no longer an arrestable offense. That would
not be the same as legalization. Technically, smoking and selling soft
drugs would still be against the law, as would cannabis cafes. But, in
practice, police would have greater scope to turn a blind eye.

Liberalization fits the mood of the times. From metropolitan dinner parties
to beach-side barbecues, marijuana is widely used in Britain. Even Prince
Harry, 17, was recently caught smoking a joint.

Increasingly, the British are turning against the traditional view that
marijuana is unhealthy and that it is a stepping stone to hard drugs. A
government medical report recently deemed pot less dangerous than alcohol
or tobacco. Other evidence suggests that smoking a joint is a good form of
pain relief for some diseases.

With so much alcohol-fueled violence in Britain, many hail marijuana as a
kinder, gentler way to have fun.

"In the pubs, people get drunk and have fights, but when you smoke weed,
you don't feel like going out and smashing up the town," said Bee. "I think
the police don't mind us being here because we don't cause any trouble."

Across Britain, pressure is mounting to make marijuana completely legal. By
taking soft drugs out of the hands of criminal dealers, say campaigners,
you remove the link to hard drugs. Politicians, led by the Liberal
Democrats, the country's third-largest party, as well as some police chiefs
and newspaper editors support the legalization of marijuana.

In the meantime, though, British pot smokers are left to walk a legal
tightrope. The authorities raided Stockport's Dutch Experience three times
between September and January, and the owner has been charged with
supplying banned substances. Since the beginning of January, however, the
police have stayed away.

To keep on the right side of official tolerance, Dutch Experience is very
discreet. Tucked away in a small shopping arcade, the cafe does not
advertise, serves no alcohol, turns away anyone under the age of 18 and
requires photo ID for access to its Members' Room, where most of the action
takes place.

Staffers do not admit openly that marijuana is smoked or sold on the
premises, preferring instead a nod or a wink.

"All I can tell you is that we are a Dutch-style coffee shop, and leave you
to put two and two together," said one staffer, with a meaningful smile. In
the liberal-minded Netherlands, adults are permitted to smoke pot in
licensed establishments known euphemistically as "coffee shops."

Despite all the cloak-and-dagger coyness, though, Stockport's Dutch
Experience looks like a shrine to getting high. Fake marijuana leaves and
psychedelic ornaments dangle from the ceiling. A Union Jack with a drawing
of Queen Elizabeth smoking a joint hangs outside the toilets. At the
counter, pot smokers can buy their favorite munchies: Mars bars, peanuts,
muffins.

Open daily from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., the cafe draws a mixed crowd.
Plumbers rub shoulders with tourists, social workers and yuppies. One
78-year-old woman said she smokes grass here as a cure for insomnia.

On a recent afternoon, the cafe was packed with people rolling joints,
stuffing weed into pipes and inhaling deeply. Some stared into space with
glassy eyes. Others talked earnestly about the meaning of life. Everyone
was full of peace and good will.

In the Members' Room, a young man with yellow teeth sold tiny bags of
marijuana from a black toolbox. On the menu were Moroccan hashish and
Organic English Strong Weed. Lebanese gold resin was on order for later in
the week.

Everything was cheaper and cleaner than it would be on the street,
customers said.

A couple of tables away, Bee was on cloud nine. "It's so nice to have a
place where you can smoke good stuff, chill out and chat to your mates,"
she said, puffing on a fat joint.

At the same table , a woman in a wheelchair was sucking smoke from a
water-based pipe. Marijuana, she said, made her multiple sclerosis easier
to bear. "It relaxes the muscles and takes some of the pain away."

In Stockport, a city whose only claim to fame until now was a hat museum,
there is little opposition to the Dutch Experience. The town council, like
the police in recent months, seems content to look the other way.

At the hair salon next door, owner Norman Collins said he saw no reason to
make a fuss.

"I'm totally fine with it," he shrugged. "Only people who are completely
ignorant could object to a place like this."

To cash in on that laissez-faire attitude, the owner of a leading sushi
chain and other entrepreneurs have said they plan to open "cannabis cafes."
Many have flown to the Netherlands to learn the tricks of the trade: how to
manage a Dutch-style coffee shop, how to spot different types of weed, how
to handle police and local authorities.

Some will face resistance. In Bournemouth, one City Council member is
campaigning against the cannabis cafe there. Nevertheless, Britain's pot
smokers seem more willing than ever to fight for the right to puff in public.

At the Dutch Experience in Stockport, the mellow mood is tinged with defiance.

"They can throw us in jail or put a bomb under us, but nothing will stop us
now," said Bee. "We'll go on smoking here whether people like it or not."