CITY SET FOR DRUG CAFE

PLANS have been unveiled to open a cafe in the Capital where cannabis can
be bought and smoked.

Edinburgh-based publisher Kevin Williamson, who helped launch the career of
controversial novelist Irvine Welsh, plans to take advantage of the
Government's softening stance on cannabis to open the cafe as early as the
spring.

But today the plan received a cold reception from anti-drugs campaigners
who claimed it would simply attract drug users to the city.

The Amsterdam-style coffee shop will be named after Mr Willamson's
publishing company, Rebel Inc.

However, the 39-year-old from Meadowbank today refused to reveal either the
proposed location or the "consortium" of people backing the move.

Mr Williamson said the cafe would provide a haven for the city's cannabis
users where they would be free to buy and consume the drug without being
exposed to gangland dealers who also peddle "hard" drugs such as heroin.

He said: "At the moment cannabis is sold in our estates and stairwells and
often the product sold is what is known as soap bar, cannabis adulterated
with poisonous substances such as bitumen. People need to ask themselves if
cannabis should be sold in this way by gangsters on our housing estates who
also deal in heroin."

Mr Williamson said he hoped the police would tolerate the proposed coffee
shop in the same way they have tolerated the city's prostitution industry.

He said: "Prostitution has been tolerated in saunas and in certain streets
where it can be controlled and made safer. Harm reduction makes a lot of
sense, it's safer for women. There are far less murders of women in
Edinburgh because police have taken a very pragmatic line."

He added: "I am not a drug dealer and setting up a cafe is a step I am
loathe to take but it is something I feel strongly about.

"And I think many people would agree that it should be licensed and
controlled."

The proposed cafe would open following new legislation by Home Secretary
David Blunkett, expected in the spring.

The laws are expected to usher in a softer stance on cannabis possession
and follow experimental tolerance zones in the London boroughs of Brixton
and Lambeth where police have cautioned people found with small amounts of
the drug rather than arrest them.

Mr Williamson said: "The time is right to change the law because it has
been disregarded by so many people who now smoke cannabis.

"The cafe is not something that will be sprung on anyone. The police and
authorities will be consulted before anything happens but there is a danger
I could go to jail over this. There will be some people against it but
before the cafe opens there will have to be a debate about the issue.

"The people who will be welcome to the cafe will be over 18 and be able to
prove it. There won't be any hard drugs or alcohol allowed on the premises.

"And it won't be like some drunken Lothian Road pub where everyone spills
out on to the streets at closing time.

"I'm not going on record to say I am a smoker of cannabis just as I'm not
going to say I drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes."

But Alistair Ramsay of Scotland Against Drugs said he feared that the
setting up of such a cafe would lead to an influx of users to Scotland,
rather than just cater for local demand. He said: "In Holland, the Dutch
people are very concerned that the majority of people using cannabis cafes
are not Dutch.

"If we introduce cannabis cafes in Scotland we would become a magnet for
people to come here to smoke cannabis."

Mr Williamson has said he wishes to open talks with Lothian and Borders
Police on the matter. But a force spokesman said they were unwilling to
comment at this time.

Earlier this month plans to open a similar cafe in Dundee were announced.