Posted on 12/16/2003 2:43:17 AM PST by Prodigal Son
THE Capital’s first cannabis cafe is set to open next month when the drug is downgraded from class B to class C.
The Purple Haze internet cafe in Leith will become a private club where people can bring small amounts of the narcotic to smoke.
It will be the first such establishment to open in Scotland and will test how the new laws are to be applied by police.
Cafe owner Paul Stewart believes turning the former greasy spoon into a private club in the evenings would allow him to operate within the law.
Thirty-seven-year-old Mr Stewart said: "I use cannabis and I’m going to allow people to smoke it. I’m not going to sell it, but I’ll allow people to bring their own.
"I don’t think there’s going to be a problem, but I could be wrong. I could end up in jail."
He said the cafe would operate as normal until 4pm then become a nightly club with a £5 membership fee to join.
However, a spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police warned that Mr Stewart would face prosecution even if the cafe was run privately.
The spokesman said: "He would be committing an offence. It is an offence if you allow your premises to be used knowingly for the smoking of cannabis."
Cannabis cafes have been operating in England for up to seven months before the owners faced prosecution.
Purple Haze and tobacconists The Pipe Shop, which is also based in Leith, have also started selling magic mushrooms for the price of £12 a bag - even though magic mushrooms contain the class A drug psilocybin.
Under the new law, it is thought that people caught smoking cannabis at home will generally not face court action, but receive only a warning or fine.
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