Pubdate: Sat, 15 Sep 2001
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Angelique Chrisafis

DUTCH-STYLE CANNABIS CAFE OPENS IN BRITAIN

The UK's only Dutch-style cannabis cafe opens today, selling bags of weed 
and rolled joints from a shopfront in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

The Dutch Experience will be run by Colin Davies, a sufferer of 
debilitating back pain. Cafe staff will defy laws banning the supply of 
cannabis, claiming that there is a moral obligation to provide the drug to 
people who use it therapeutically.

Mr Davies is founder of the Medical Marijuana Co-operative, a non-profit 
organisation which provides cannabis for multiple sclerosis and arthritis 
sufferers who need the drug to ease pain, but do not want to buy it from 
street dealers.

The Stockport cafe will sell three types of grass and three types of resin 
in 2g and 5g bags, with ready-rolled joints for novices. It will operate 
from a former restaurant, and will also sell coffee and cakes, but no alcohol.

Marijuana will be sold to both medical and recreational users, with social 
smokers subsidising the low-cost medical users. The cafe will also act as a 
meeting place for sufferers of chronic pain.

Mr Davies, 44, who once handed the Queen a bouquet containing marijuana, 
has been acquitted twice of cultivating and selling the drug for medical 
use. He feels his acquittals could be seen as test cases and is confident 
that the cannabis cafe will stay open despite the fact that supply of the 
drug is illegal.

Mr Davies said: "We want to be transparent and act in a civilised way. We 
have got to get the medicine to the patients, so we aim to stay open with 
the support of many local people. I feel it is immoral to withhold cures 
from people experiencing acute pain."

Mr Davies previously told a court he smoked up to four joints a day to 
relieve back pain after a fall at work in 1994. He will be assisted by 
Dutch traders with experience of running similar licensed cafes in Amsterdam.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester police said officers would not turn a 
blind eye to the cafe. "It is illegal and we will have to deal with the 
sale of any drugs," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart