HIPPY CAFE A MELLOW SPOT

Pot Patio

It's a hot, sunny day on Oxford Street, a good day to sit on the patio and
have a cold drink. But at the Hippy Cafe patio, you'll have to settle for a
joint of marijuana. Booze isn't allowed.

Of course, you'll have to bring your own.

"No, we don't sell it," owner Michael McDowell said yesterday. "It's a
place where people can come in, smoke their marijuana without any pressures
or hassles."

However, on Monday, the cafe will begin operating a "compassion centre"
during specific hours, selling pot to people who have legal and medical
approval to use it for medicinal purposes, similar to the existing London
Compassion Centre, McDowell said.

The fenced-in, outdoor cafe opened quietly late last month in the rear of
the Plant Doctor at 944 Oxford St.

It's the first of its kind in London since June, when police organizations
in Ontario said they wouldn't lay charges for possessing less than 30 grams
of of marijuana until the country's muddled pot laws are clarified.

Similar cafes operate in Vancouver and Toronto and one is opening soon in
Windsor, McDowell said.

The Hippy Cafe features seven tables, including five picnic tables and
umbrellas. It's decorated with a rock garden and plants.

"Here, you're guaranteed a clean, healthy, safe, happy environment, not a
dirty, dark back alley," McDowell said, adding he hopes to get licences to
sell drinks and snacks.

In a room at the back of the Plant Doctor, McDowell has built a rock
garden. He'll move the cafe indoors when cold weather arrives.

"I've talked to the smoke police (bylaw enforcement officers) and they say
it's not illegal to smoke pot indoors," he said.

McDowell operates a store selling smoke paraphernalia and hemp clothing.

So far, the cafe has operated without the intrusion of police.

"They haven't been in here, but I've noticed them driving by a little more
often," said McDowell. "They know what's going on."

A London police spokesperson said the drug unit and the community oriented
response unit recently became aware of the cafe and are investigating.

Yesterday, there were six customers lounging at the picnic tables, smoking
joints, drinking pop, water or juice and enjoying the sunshine.

"This is a very comfortable, relaxing environment," said Tyler, 19, who
didn't want his last name published.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's better than sitting in
a bar drinking. And it's good because it's away from the core. Nobody is
here to cause trouble."

Two older customers were puffing on joints they obtained legally for
medicinal use.

The Liberal government hopes to have its new marijuana legislation passed
by the end of the year.

Under the proposed new laws, possession of up to 15 grams of pot -- enough
to roll about 15 to 20 joints -- would be a minor offence that carries no
criminal record.

McDowell was charged last May with cultivating marijuana with the intent to
traffic after police raided his Ilderton home and seized pot plants they
said are valued at $112,000.