Scots Weed Cafe

[vidcc]

so a legal cannibis cafe is opened in scotland and police stand outside and arrest people for possesion








THREE people were arrested for drugs offences yesterday on the opening day of the first cannabis cafe in Scotland.

The arrest of two men and a woman for possession of cannabis at the Purple Haze Cafe coincided with the reclassification of the drug, from Class B to Class C.

It is understood that Paul Stewart, 37, the owner of the cafe in Leith, Edinburgh, was one of the three arrested.

The cafe allows cannabis users to come in off the streets and use the drug. It does not sell cannabis. Pro-cannabis campaigners - backed by the Scottish Cannabis Coffeeshop Movement - want to highlight what they say is a confusing legal situation surrounding the possession and use of the drug.

Police stood outside the cafe entrance as supporters filtered in to register as members.

Before his arrest Mr Stewart said: "In the rest of the UK, the presumption of arrest has been taken away, but that presumption still remains in Scotland." Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan registered at the cafe, calling it a "safe controlled environment for those who wish to consume cannabis".

In London, Met Deputy Commissioner Ian Blair backed the reclassification. Policing of possession of small amounts of cannabis had become "increasingly pointless".

He added: "It was grossly inefficient for officers to spend hours processing individuals for possession of cannabis in amounts about which neither the courts nor therefore the CPS (prosecutors) were prepared to take any action."


source

so a legal cannibis cafe is opened

[Biggles]

I would most surprised if the police have the resources to have half a dozen policemen standing outside the Purplehaze Cafe every day. I suspect they felt they had to be seen to be "alert" to the situation on the opening day. Apparently a surprising (or perhaps not so surprising) number of people queued up join the club in freezing conditions.

[J'Pol]

When was cannabis made legal in Scotland.

I was not informed of this, who made the decision.

[vidcc]

by all accounts it's legal to open and run a canibis cafe as long as you don't sell any or allow people to bring any in kind of like the porn laws used to be in the UK. It was legal to own the odd blue film and watch it in your own home but it was illegal to sell or buy it in the uk and it was illegal to order it through mail order because it was illegal to send obscene material through the post... i think things are different now

[J'Pol]

This is misinformed pish.

[vidcc]

oh sorry i forgot you are an expert on just about everything

[<TROUBLE^MAKER>]

I read a while back that in Amsterdam they weren&#39;t gonna let people smoke down in those coffee shops cause of all the second hand smoke dangers used to rationalize not to allowing tobacco smoking indoors in public places.

[Skillian]

There are plenty of places like this in Britain already, they just don&#39;t give themselves obvious names like the Purple Haze Cafe...

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by vidcc@31 January 2004 - 04:58
oh sorry i forgot you are an expert on just about everything

Not everything, but as near it as to make little difference.

Incidentally possession and or supply of cannabis is illegal in Scotland. It is therefore understandable why the Police would detain people in relation to it.

It is unlikely that they would have arrested people at that stage, given that arrest has an entirely different meaning in Scotland than it does in the rest of the UK. casting doubt on the accuracy of the the article.

The Scottish legal system is entirely separate from the rest of the UK and has been since the Act of Union. In addition Law and Order is a devolved issue. So the policies and opinions of the English Police or CPS are on no import. He would be as well saying that a Spokesman for the NYPD thought the actions harsh.

One would have expected the author to have known these very basic things.

It was misinformed, misleading pish

[Rat Faced]

I may open one across the river from Coldstream and another just before Gretna.

But the 1st will be just north of Berwick, as the Northumbrian Police definitly appear to be turning a blind eye......

The only other major road into Scotland is too far from Jedbrough to make it a worthwhile proposition


However, prostitution is illegal in Scotland as well as England...as an example.

Yet the parlours of Edinburgh and Glasgow advertise openly (they cant in England). Just because something is illegal doesnt mean the police will necessarily take action.