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Britain's First Cannabis Cafe Owner Jailed

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The man behind Britain's first Dutch-style cannabis cafe was jailed for three years on Thursday for possessing and supplying the drug, court officials said.



Pot pioneer Colin Davies, 44, a leading British campaigner for the legalization of cannabis who once presented Queen Elizabeth with a bouquet of marijuana plants, opened the cafe in the northern English town of Stockport last September.

Within minutes of the launch of the "The Dutch Experience," it was raided by police and Davies was arrested.

On Thursday he was jailed at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on eight charges including perjury and possessing a class B drug with intent to supply while on bail for other drug-related offences.

Davies, a founder of the Medical Marijuana Co-operative, a non-profit organization that provides cannabis to people who suffer from multiple sclerosis and arthritis, said he had wanted to give sufferers of debilitating diseases a safe place to buy the drug.

"The Dutch Experience," which makes no secret of its business, has been raided by police a number of times since last September but has remained open for business.

In July, Britain's Home Secretary (Interior Minister) David Blunkett announced plans to ease laws governing cannabis users from next summer, downgrading the drug to low risk Class C. Although still illegal, the change would make discreet possession of small amounts of the drug or smoking it in private a non-arrestable offense.

An ICM survey said five million Britons used cannabis regularly and even royalty has tried it. Prince Harry, second son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, made headlines this year when it was revealed he had smoked cannabis.

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