CANNABIS CAFE SHUT DOWN

Police raided Stockport's cannabis cafe this afternoon and shut it down.
Officers burst in as owner Colin Davies was being interviewed by BBC TV
about whether the law was turning a blind eye to his venture.

Uniformed officers searched scores of customers at the Dutch Experience
cafe in Hooper Street before arresting Mr Davies and a number of others,
who were taken to Stockport police station.

This afternoon's raid happened as media interest in the cafe increased,
with a story in the Manchester Evening News about the tourists flocking there.

BBC reporter Stuart Flinders was filming for a feature about how the cafe
was continuing to remain open when the raid happened.

Mark Bradnell, 20, an unemployed gardener of Buxton Road, Heaviley,
Stockport, said: "I thought it was a joke at first. They came in and said
'Police. Police. Don't move' and then plainclothes officers came in. The
camera crew was filming away. The police pulled Colin Davies out and he
said 'You don't have to handcuff me -- I will come quietly.' I don't agree
with it. He helps people with medical needs. I've seen what alcohol does
and I have never seen anyone rowdy in this cafe. I love it."

Professional boxer Jimmy Louis, 27, of Forbes Road Offerton, Stockport,
said: "I was having a chat with Colin and the BBC and they came in and
grabbed Colin and arrested him. They started searching everybody.

"They carted off about 15 people. There were about 20 police officers here.
It's just a waste of taxpayers' money." Mr Davies, 44, who says he supplies
marijuana to sick people to ease their pain, hit the headlines in April
last year when the Queen unwittingly accepted a marijuana plant from him at
the opening of The Lowry in Salford.

Senior police officers in London today indicated a radical shift on drug
policy by publicly advocating that Ecstasy should be downgraded to a Class
B drug.

They also backed special areas where addicts could legally inject heroin.
The officer in charge of a pilot project in south London in which cannabis
users are being let off with a caution said arresting people for possession
of Ecstasy was a "waste of valuable police resources" and attention should
be directed at more harmful drugs.

Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Andy Hayman told the
Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that chief officers would support
Ecstasy being downgraded from Class A to Class B if medical and scientific
evidence recommended it.

"There seems to be medical and scientific evidence that puts it alongside
other amphetamines," he said.