THREE ARRESTED AS CANNABIS CAFE OPENS IN CAPITAL

Three people were arrested yesterday as Scotland's first cannabis cafe
opened on the day the drug was reclassified from a class B drug to
class C across the UK.

As crowds gathered outside the Purple Haze Cafe in Edinburgh, Lothian
and Borders officers handed out leaflets repeating a warning that the
downgrading of the drug would have no impact on how they dealt with it
or its users.

The new cafe was relaunched as a private club that will allow its
members to bring their own cannabis on to the premises so they can
inhale it through a vapouriser.

Within two minutes of officially re-opening, the purple and
lilac-coloured coffee shop was packed with members of the public --
young and old alike -- all eager to pay their #5 membership fee to
register. Organisers were so overwhelmed they closed its doors,
forcing many to wait even longer in the cold to join.

Alex Drummond, a new member from Leith said it was worth the wait. He
said: "I want to join because I believe it's a good thing. Taking hash
doesn't hurt anyone, it is a lot better than drinking."

Paul Stewart, 37, the owner and member of the Scottish Cannabis Coffee
Shop Movement, said the Purple Haze would continue to operate as an
internet cafe as well as provide the safest possible environment for
people wanting to use the drug.

He said the cafe would be "tobacco free" but anyone wishing to take
cannabis would be able to use the vaporiser machine which eliminates
99% of the carcinogenic substances of the drug.

"People use cannabis every day and we have to recognise that," he
said. "We want to educate people and become a cannabis tolerant zone.
Our campaign has already brought the issue of cannabis into the
spotlight and we hope to continue the debate on that."

As a result of the new classification, cannabis is now in the same
drug category as anti-depressants and anabolic steroids. Possessing
and supplying the drug is still an arrestable offence. However, it is
understood that police in England and Wales are unlikely to make
arrests for having small quantities of the drug.

Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist party leader, was among those
who joined the cafe. He said: "I'm here to show solidarity with those
who believe the cannabis laws in this country are a disgrace."

Police said two men and a woman had been arrested at the cafe under
the Misuse of Drugs Act. It is understood one of them was Mr Stewart.