CANNABIS CAFE OWNER JAILED FOR THREE YEARS

The owner of Britain's first Amsterdam-style coffee shop was jailed for
three years yesterday by a judge who said he had threatened the proposed
liberalisation of the drug.

Judge Stuart Fish said Colin Davies, 44, who had argued his use of the drug
was medicinal, had damaged "the respect that there might have been for the
genuinely held belief of the British Medical Association's recommendation
that cannabis might be made available for clinical use".

Davies hung his head as he was sentenced in Manchester's Minshull Street
Crown Court on eight charges - including supplying and importing drugs -
relating to his Dutch Experience cafe, in Stockport, Manchester.

He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty
to charges on which he had been expected to stand trial later this year. He
has already served nine months in jail since his arrest. Davies' father,
also called Colin, was acquitted of perjury and perverting the course of
justice.