HASH CAFE SET TO OPEN BEFORE CHANGE IN LAW

THE man behind plans for a cannabis cafe in the Capital has said he is
considering opening the venue before the Government relaxes the drug
laws next year.

Cult book publisher Kevin Williamson - who discovered Trainspotting
author Irvine Welsh - had intended to open the cafe on July 1 when
cannabis was expected to be reclassified as a Class C drug.

But the Home Office has now said the softer penalties for smoking the
drug will not come into effect until January at the earliest.

Today, Mr Williamson said he was considering pressing ahead with plans
to open the cafe without waiting for the law to be relaxed.

He intends to meet with the backers of the project to discuss whether
or not to open before the reclassification in January. "My gut feeling
is we will move ahead despite this [delay in the Government's plans].
I will be consulting with the backers," said Mr Williamson, who
accused the Government of backtracking under pressure from anti-drug
campaigners.

"The people who told us in November 2001 that the cannabis laws would
be relaxed have lied after coming under pressure from anti-drug
campaigners," he said.

"I haven't worked on this for a year and a half just to give up."

Mr Williamson's cafe would either sell cannabis or have a policy of
tolerating smoking of the illegal drug on its premises.

However, key questions about the implications of the proposed laws
remained unanswered, he said.

"Who would be legally responsible for the coffee shop, the managers or
the owners? We have to look at this, we have had no information," the
book publisher added.

The delay in changing the drug laws is the second blow to Mr
Williamson's plans after one of his backers pulled out last month.
That has left him looking for someone else willing to invest up to
UKP64,000 to avoid having to scale down the scheme.

MPs have yet to vote on downgrading cannabis from a class B drug
alongside amphetamines and barbiturates to class C.

The Home Office has said the revised penalties for cannabis possession
can only come into force after the Criminal Justice Bill is passed in
parliament, and that is not now expected to happen until next year.

A Home Office spokesman blamed the delay in bringing the Bill to
parliament on the new penalties being included in the Criminal Justice
Bill. "Reclassification will take effect when the new penalties for
cannabis possession are in force, which is likely to be in January,"
he said.

Mr Blunkett previously announced that the drug will be reclassified on
July 1, becoming a class C drug rather than class B. The
reclassification means that punishments for personal use will be less
severe.

Mr Blunkett's proposals to reclassify cannabis from a class B drug to
a class C mean possession of small amounts of the drug will no longer
be an offence worthy of arrest, and those caught with it will face
only fines or cautions.

But it remains unclear what action would be taken in the case of a
"bring your own" cafe if its owners decided not to sell the drug on
their premises.