OWNER OF BRITISH CANNABIS CAFE SENTENCED

LONDON - A man who tried to open Britain's first cannabis cafe has been
sentenced to three years in prison for possessing and dealing marijuana.

Colin Davies, 44, opened the "Dutch Experience" cafe in the northern
England town of Stockport last September. Within minutes of opening, the
coffee shop was raided and Davis was arrested. Customs officers later
intercepted a shipment of about nine pounds of marijuana sent to the cafe
owner from Holland.

Davies modeled his business on similar enterprises in the Netherlands,
where marijuana is officially illegal but small cannabis transactions at
established cafes are tolerated.

A judge in Manchester sentenced Davies on Thursday after a jury found him
guilty of a total of eight charges including drugs offenses and perjury.

Davies, who founded Medical Marijuana Cooperative before opening the cafe,
pled not guilty to all charges and claimed he was providing marijuana for
pain relief.

Prosecutors disagreed and said that he was using a "medical facade ... to
attempt to legitimise what he was about - supplying cannabis to anybody who
wanted it."

In handing down the sentence, Judge Stuart Fish said Davis "persistently
flouted the law."

Outside the court, one of the co-owners of the cafe said that Davies had
"been made an example."

"I could hardly believe it when I heard the news, I am in shock," said
Dutch businessman Arnoldus Van Schaik. "With all that's been going on
around cannabis for the last year you would have expected some
understanding from the justice system."

In July, the British government announced plans to reduce penalties for
cannabis possession but increased penalties for dealing the drug.

Those caught with small amounts of the drug will no longer be arrested
under the new rules. But the government stopped short of decriminalization
of marijuana smoking.

A spokesman for the Legalize Cannabis Alliance, a pro-marijuana political
party, criticized British law.

"The jury didn't have much choice but to convict him," Alun Buffry said
Friday. "It's the law that's wrong in the first place."

Greater Manchester Police, the force that arrested Davies, said they would
continue to enforce existing drug laws.

"No one has yet suggested that drug dealers who sell illegal substances for
substantial revenues, as Colin Davies has been convicted of, are exempt
from the law," a spokesman said.

Despite several police raids, Dutch Experience has been sporadically doing
business from the same location since its opening.