Pubdate: Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2014 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Adam Sherwin

KENT COUNCILLOR LOBBIES FOR NEW CANNABIS CAFE

Kent could get its own Amsterdam-style cannabis cafe if an attempt 
launched by a Green councillor is successful.

Thanet councillor Ian Driver believes that popular opinion is moving 
in favour of the venue, which would allow users to smoke the class-B drug.

Last month, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that the UK 
should be at the heart of the debate about alternatives to prohibition.

Mr Driver, who has admitted to using cannabis, cocaine and Ecstasy in 
the past, wants to form a group to come up with a business case for 
the cafe and he is already looking at possible sites in Margate and Ramsgate.

However, he faces opposition from Kent Police, who have refused to 
take part in a public meeting, due to be held in Thanet tomorrow, to 
discuss the proposal.

Speakers at the meeting will include Professor Alex Stevens from the 
University of Kent, the Kent Cannabis Consortium and the UK Cannabis 
Social Clubs. Anne Barnes, Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner, was 
invited but declined to attend.

Mr Driver said that he had been "inundated with messages from local 
cannabis users who said they will be coming to the meeting". He 
added: "The debate about drugs and policing is becoming much more topical."

Ms Barnes said that any such cannabis cafe would be illegal without a 
change in the law. "I simply cannot turn a blind eye to this," she 
said. "We live in a democracy and if people want the law changed on 
the use of cannabis, then they really need to lobby their local MP."

Plans to open a cannabis cafe in Manchester's Northern Quarter were 
quashed in January following objections by police. The club would 
have been members only, charging a UKP35 annual fee, and the sale of 
the drug was to be strictly prohibited until such a time as it was 
legally permitted.

Greater Manchester Police said it lacked the resources to ensure that 
the proposed cafe was operating within the law and was not 
encouraging criminal elements.
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