Pubdate: Wed, 03 Mar 2004
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2004
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/406
Author: Jason Cumming
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Purple+Haze+Cafe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

CANNABIS CAFE OWNER SELLS UP AFTER A MONTH

THE owner of Scotland's first cannabis cafe is selling up after only a
month in business.

Purple Haze Cafe operator Paul Stewart blamed stress along with
ongoing "harassment" by the authorities for the decision to put the
lease to the premises on Portland Street, Leith, on the market.

But he also admitted his members-only cannabis club was attracting
only about a dozen people nightly and he expects to lose about UKP
25,000 on the deal. The 37-year-old former landscape gardener said:
"I've had enough. It's been very, very stressful not just setting up
the members' club but running the cafe as well. I'm going to continue
the struggle in a more central location and I want to open a 'smart
shop' selling legal highs to make people aware that they don't have to
take chemicals."

Since being arrested along with two customers only hours after the
cafe opened on January 29, Mr Stewart says he has been visited at
least twice weekly by police and also faced regular inspections by the
local authority's environmental health department.

He claims to have invested UKP 45,000 in the former greasy spoon and
is considering offers over UKP 20,000 for the lease - which has about
eight years to run.

Mr Stewart said it would be up to whoever takes the lease to decide
how the cafe should be run.

Members who paid UKP 5 to join Purple Haze were promised they would be
able to use the drug on the premises - despite police warning the
practice would be illegal.

Although it is "tobacco free", backers said anyone wishing to take
cannabis after 4pm could use a vaporiser machine, which eliminates 99
per cent of the carcinogenic substances of the drug. The cafe opened
as the narcotic was officially reclassified from Class B to Class C by
the Government. But as cannabis use remains illegal, Lothian and
Borders Police have maintained a close watch on the premises and
handed out leaflets at the door warning that anyone in possession or
using the drug could face arrest.

Mr Stewart does not sell the drug and insists he was only aiming to
provide a "safe environment" for his customers to relax in. He
maintains it would be impossible for him to check which substances
members choose to use on the premises.

Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan signed up to become a
member of the cafe, which drew more than 100 people to its opening.

Mr Stewart added: "We've put the debate into the open again and it's
been discussed at high levels. We did create a small piece of Scottish
history and it was the most talked about cafe in the world for a
couple of weeks, so I haven't got any regrets."

He expects the cannabis cafe to remain open until at least the end of
June. Mr Stewart said he planned to open a shop specialising in "legal
highs" such as imported magic mushrooms and herbal ecstasy in
Edinburgh's Southside by the summer.

But anti-drugs campaigners today suggested that Mr Stewart's decision
to quit was a warning to any similar entrepreneurs.

Alistair Ramsay, director of Scotland Against Drugs, said:

"There has been a significant overestimate in the number of people who
want to use this kind of service and this demonstrates that anyone
else trying to flaunt the law is also likely to pay a pretty high cost." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake