LOOPHOLE COULD ALLOW DRUGS CAFES

Cannabis clubs may run on bring-your-own basis, writes VICKY COLLINS and
ROSAMUND SPINNLER

THE reclassification of cannabis may leave a loophole in the law for
"bring-your-own" cannabis cafes, The Herald has learned.

While cafes that sell the drug over the counter in a similar way to the
establishments in Amsterdam would be charged with dealing, it is not yet
clear what would happen if cafe owners simply invited their customers to
smoke cannabis on their premises.

Kevin Williamson, founder of Rebel Inc publishing and the Scottish
Socialist party's spokesman on drugs policy, has already announced that he
plans to open an Amsterdam-style cafe in Edinburgh.

He said yesterday that the plan still stood. "I'm hoping to open a cafe
where cannabis would be openly smoked on the premises and the ultimate goal
would be to have it on sale, with menus behind the counter similar to those
they have in Holland.

"It could be a members-only club so that we could regulate the age and make
sure there were no under-18s."

However, Mr Williamson said he would have to take legal advice about the
implications of selling the drug following Mr Blunkett's announcement that
the penalty for dealing would rise from five years in prison to 14.

Both the home secretary and the Scottish Executive warned yesterday that
cannabis cafes would not be tolerated.

However, The Herald understands fiscals are unsure what action they would
be able to take against a bring-your-own cafe.

Under the new legislation, arrests for possession of cannabis would only be
made "where public order is threatened or where children are at risk".

Neither police officers nor legal experts are sure whether smoking cannabis
openly in cafes would fall into either of those categories, and said it
would only be through decisions taken in practice that a policy could be
formulated.

While police in England and Wales have the power to give warnings to those
found in possession, officers in Scotland must report possession of
cannabis to the procurator-fiscal, who will then decide on what action to take.

Norrie Flowers, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), said Mr
Blunkett's announcement had put rank-and-file officers in a "very difficult
position".

"If someone did open one of those cannabis cafes and just invited people to
bring cannabis in then it would be very difficult to know what to do," he
said. "At the end of the day, all we can do is report it to the
procurator-fiscal."

Because police in Scotland do not have the power to caution and instead
must report possession, there are concerns that Mr Blunkett's claim that
the change will give the police more time to concentrate on dealers and
users of hard drugs may not apply in Scotland.

Executive sources said police forces in Scotland were not currently
spending time on the streets looking for people carrying small amounts of
cannabis. Both the SPF and the Association of Chief Police Officers warned
there would be very few practical changes in policing.

That warning was disappointing for drugs workers and families of addicts
who had been hoping resources would be concentrated on the dealers of hard
drugs.

Colin Shanks, from Glasgow, whose children are both heroin addicts,
welcomed Mr Blunkett's announcement.

Although his son, now 24, began smoking cannabis at 11 before moving on to
temazepam and then heroin, Mr Shanks, 48, did not believe the link between
cannabis and hard drugs was fully proven, saying that his daughter first
encountered drugs in the form of amphetamines.

He called for police to concentrate on stopping the sale of crack cocaine
and heroin.

"Nothing's changed in Scotland in 15 years," he said. "The kids are still
dying every week . . . I think it's better that they take hash and get
chilled out rather than heroin or crack cocaine."

Former drugs czar Keith Hellawell has resigned his post as a government
adviser in protest at the reclassification plans, claiming the move was
"giving out the wrong message".

But a spokesman for the home secretary immediately hit back, claiming Mr
Hellawell had privately backed the move last year.

Tony Blair's spokesman also said officials were "bemused" by Mr Hellawell's
comments. "He hasn't indicated any concerns on this front," the spokesman said.