cannabisnews.com: High Hopes Of Cannabis Pioneers





High Hopes Of Cannabis Pioneers
Posted by CN Staff on May 20, 2002 at 13:33:02 PT
By Reuters
Source: Reuters
Amid thick clouds of smoke and thumping reggae music, groups of Britons happily flout the law, puffing on marijuana joints in the country's first Dutch-style cannabis cafe. The Dutch Experience, in the bustling northern town of Stockport, is the first of about a dozen illegal outfits expected to open in the next few months as entrepreneurs gamble that the government will change the law and go easy on cannabis users. 
"This has really taken off. It's not going to stop, it's just going to be a matter of the government controlling it," Berry, the Dutch Experience's manager, told Reuters. "The estimation is that there are soon going to be 12 coffee shops open all over the country." Berry - who wouldn't give his full name - is seasoned in the cannabis cafe trade, coming from the Dutch city of Amsterdam, where liberal authorities allow the drug to be openly sold and smoked in licensed coffee shops. Before he moved to Britain, he used to give guided tours to American tourists around the city's best coffee shops. Now he plans to use his experience to turn Stockport into a beacon for pot smokers. "We have got about 500 members, and they are all kinds of different people. We get a lot of medicinal users, people with MS (multiple sclerosis), people on crutches and in wheelchairs who use cannabis to stop their muscle spasms so they can pick up their cup of tea again," he said. "It's completely disgraceful that a person with MS has to go and buy cannabis off a street dealer who probably sells ecstasy ... he might have heroin as well." One customer John, a 50-year-old former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier, shook his head in disbelief when asked about the country's drugs laws. Rolling a large cannabis cigarette against a backdrop of brightly coloured walls covered with scribbled messages from the shop's regulars, he explained that he had taken up the habit at 13 and had smoked cannabis throughout his adult life. "It's a ludicrous situation, a joke. Loads of people smoke dope and it goes right across the social board," he said. ROYALTY DABBLES WITH DOPE Opinion polls suggest he is right. An ICM survey said five million Britons used cannabis regularly, while more than half of those aged 16-24 had tried illegal drugs. Even royalty has tried it. Prince Harry made headlines this year when it was revealed he had smoked cannabis. For years the country's two main political parties, Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party and the Conservatives, wouldn't countenance a debate on the legal status of cannabis, sticking to traditional tough drugs policies. Now a change in the law looks on the cards. Under a Home Office (Interior Ministry) approved pilot scheme in Lambeth - a crime-ridden area of south London - police only issue a warning to those caught with cannabis, concentrating instead on dealers in hard drugs. Locals have heralded the scheme as a big success. Home Secretary David Blunkett says that he wants to make possessing cannabis a non-arrestable offence and to allow its use for medical purposes. Providing the Lambeth experiment was a proven success and members of parliament agreed, the change could occur this summer, a Home Office spokeswoman told Reuters. "Depending on the parliamentary timetable, we are looking at another two to three months," she said. POLICE GIVE MIXED MESSAGE  However, Don Barnard of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance - which has fielded candidates in national elections in a bid to change the law - said he didn't expect Blunkett's plans to pave the way for a flood of cannabis cafes. Yet. "The government's not for it, they've made it clear they do not want coffee shops," he said. "But I think public opinion will force them into such a situation that they will have to accept them." In the meantime, the police themselves have been sending out mixed messages to those planning on following in the footsteps of the Dutch Experience. The shop, which makes no secret of its business, has been raided three times since it opened last September and its owner, pot pioneer Colin Davies, has become a cause celebre after being arrested and charged with supplying cannabis. He is in jail. But despite the setbacks, the coffee shop opens every day for business and has been left in peace for months. "The police should come in here every day and arrest people for possession," Berry said. "But we don't cause any problems unlike the pub next door which has fights every Saturday night." Part of the confusion stems from the top cops themselves. The Association of Chief Police Officers says there should be a more relaxed attitude towards people carrying small amounts of dope, but has stopped short of advocating decriminalisation. Barnard says the Dutch way is the future. "The government has to move," he said. "Everyone in Europe is going this way now." Source: ReutersPublished: May 20, 2002Copyright: 2002 Reuters LimitedRelated Articles & Web Sites:Dutch Experiencehttp://www.dutchexperience.org/Legalise Cannabis Alliancehttp://www.lca-uk.org/man/mani.htmlCannabis Café Boss is Freed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12876.shtmlHasheesh To Hasheesh....http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12659.shtmlCannabis Entrepreneurs Go Dutch http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12482.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #6 posted by p4me on May 21, 2002 at 08:59:20 PT
different stuff
Is it worth even reading anything the pfadfa puts out. Talk about redundancy. Why didn't they just tatoo "Just say no" on every baby born. Would it have stopped the financial grease. And don't say this is America and they cannot do that. They may regard it as a challenge and make us beat them over the head with their stupidity, like we are going to have to drown the lies of the DEA with pee.I am mainly responding to the electorial college comment of BGreen. The winner take all situation is not fair. The counting of the chads in Florida would not have been necessary if the electorial votes were divided. Also in the last election there should only be two candidates about like the French have a runoff election and then let two people go head to head. I wish there were a movie out where we get to hang Strom Thurmond for the scapegoat for the treason of the drug wars. His last words with his century of wisdom if I were writing it would be "Change the electorial college."At the time of the revolution there were only 4 cities with over 10,000 people- Charleston, Boston, New York, and Philidelphia possibly. I think there were only about 3 million people in the colonies so that to have 535 representatives in Congress meant that you could probably talk to a representative over a serious problem. That is one representative for 5600 people. With 288 million that number becomes one in 538,000. I could be off on that 3 million but I just looked up the 288 million last week.I will just recall the term electronic town hall that Ross Perot used. It is a term with no real significance now. The significance of what the real electonic town halls do in the future is yet to be determined. One would hope that it would allow our one for a half a million people representatives a method to make virtual appearances where they are required to at least display their ability to speak in complete sentences. People are tired of sound bites and want to actually see there elected Congressmen speak to the people regularly. If we cannot have more representatives we at least need to hear directly from them more than we do.Because it takes 15% of the voter share to get in the debates- that is what kept Nader out- the parties that want to break the two party corruption system are going to have to use the internet to make their story available to the masses if they want to talk substance instead of soundbites. The electronic town hall of the future may be the computers in your local library at present. Convergence is a big deal and the new parties will have to exploit it to take on the two gangster parties that want to keep their turf.Sorry for taking off on an unrelated topic but the only thing else I could say would be "The drug wars are treason" and that view seems to only come from Jose and myself.ICBS,VAAI,POW
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by BGreen on May 21, 2002 at 01:14:18 PT
One more thing
I respect you and your opinions, E_Johnson, but whether or not you're satisfied with the outcome of the election, there is no argument that the electoral college is antiquated and obsolete, and the entire voting system is sadly in need of repair.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by BGreen on May 21, 2002 at 01:04:48 PT
Let me explain my original mindset
The thought that came to mind was that if the US can't kick the rest of the world around they'd channel all their energy into persecuting us, creating a totalitarian dictatorship similar to that which has existed in Cuba since I was born. Castro has held a tight reign on the Cuban people, yet he has no influence whatsoever on any other Country.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by BGreen on May 21, 2002 at 00:53:13 PT
Actually, I wasn't going there
I was referring to Castro and Cuba.You're right, though, it really didn't matter which one of those buffoons "won" the election, because either way in the end we all lost.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on May 21, 2002 at 00:16:23 PT
Please do not go there
ruled by a president who wasn't even elected.
Let me be blunt: I wanted Gore to lose, because I care about the Democratic party. I voted for Nader hoping that it would make Gore lose. As a lifelong Democrat I have no regrets myself about the outcome of the election. I am glad Gore is being punished for touting Drug Free America at the convention while his wife was serving as the national poster child for Zoloft.And if the whole Democratic Party has to be punished for sitting there and applauding and egging him on in that shameful moment, so be it.If Gore were in power, he would be the one shutting down the California clubs, we all know that to be true.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by BGreen on May 20, 2002 at 23:32:42 PT
Great Britain and Canada
The biggest obstacle to common sense in these Countries has been interference from the US. We suckered them both into this phony "war" against, as mentioned in a British newspaper article, an enemy that in one battle numbered in the "tens." Not to mention the "friendly fire" incidents. We bombed and killed Canadians, and there's nary a mention of it anymore.The US obstacle is nothing more than a decaying speed bump. I'm glad for the rest of the world, but I wonder if the US will become the Cuba of the 21st century; isolated from the rest of the world, ruled by a president who wasn't even elected.God in Heaven help us.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment