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Thursday, 18th March 2010

VOTE: Tough warning for Lancing cannabis café

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Published Date: 25 October 2007
POLICE have warned people visiting Lancing's suspected cannbis café they face the risk of a criminal record.
The site, in Freshbrook Road, was reopened days after a dramatic raid.
Officers used a tractor to pull a window from the heavily-fortified building, on Thursday, October 11.

Click here to see video of the raid.

Now a tyre wall has been erected around the outside of the building, with razor-wire and vehicle height restriction bars also in place.

Inspector James Asser, of Adur police, told the Herald this week: "We will not tolerate drug taking in the community – it is as simple as that."

Arrest and charge

Officers are permitted to confiscate drugs and issue warnings to those caught with cannabis, but Insp Asser said they would push for stronger penalties because the so-called "cannabis warnings" were being abused.

He said: "People were meeting round the corner and going to get more, and that is not what they were designed for.

"We will arrest and charge rather than give our cannabis warnings.

"People entering the premises face the risk of a criminal record."

Adur police district commander Chief Inspector Lawrence Hobbs said the aim was still to close down the suspected cannabis café.

He added residents had told officers they were doing the right thing, and reiterated the operation was not about targeting people smoking cannabis in the privacy of their own home.

Ch Insp Hobbs said: "This is about tackling a very serious community issue.

"Twenty or 30 people at a time are converging on a quiet, residential area to take illegal drugs.

"The local community has given us a very clear mandate and we will act within the power of the law to achieve that."

Adur police and the Herald are keen to hear people's views on the café and the ongoing operation.

Take part in the vote

Do you think police are right in trying to close down Lancing's suspected cannabis café?

Vote yes or no in the box to the right of this screen.

Comments can be sent via email to letters@worthingtoday.co.uk

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  • Last Updated: 10 June 2008 7:40 PM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Worthing
 
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1

Winston Matthews,

Horley Surrey 25/10/2007 12:21:15
This is the 4th cannabis type cafe in this area and they have been here since 2002, so lets legalise and make some money from them.
2

danny c,

25/10/2007 16:23:42
why dont the police get there priorities right and get rid of the crack and heroin epidemic happenin right now. leave smokers alone and concentrate on the drugs that cause heartache addiction and crime please for the sake of this country sort it out
3

John Watson,

Baker Street 25/10/2007 17:07:00
Interesting that the police can spend thousands on harrassing a few old stoners, but were unable to attend when my car had its' windows smashed by vandals on Tuesday. It's this low-level anti-social crime that is the problem, not spliff smokers listening to Pink Floyd. Reclassifying to class B will make no difference, the penalties are the same for dealing B and C and if class B didn't deter the Home Secretary (and me) from smoking cannabis, why should it deter anyone else? Legalise regulate and tax cannabis, then these 21st century versions of speakeasies will become mainstream and mundane, as they are in Holland.
4

Freddy F,

Scotland 25/10/2007 18:25:26
"We will not tolerate drug taking in the community – it is as simple as that.". Well he's gonna have to ban cigarettes and lager if he wants to achieve that. Anyone who opposes the legalisation of cannabis and drinks alcohol is surely a hypoctric. Regulation is the ONLY answer.
5

Dawn P,

25/10/2007 19:19:22
I know Adur police will say they were only doing their job. But i am appauled at the way they over-reacted to a few tokers inside a cafe. When i saw the pictures of the devastation they caused, i thought i was viewing pictures of a terrorist attack!!! A two-tonne tractor and damage estimated at approx £20,000. All that destruction for a poxy four grammes worth of cannabis seized. Did they give any consideration to the harm they could have caused to those inside, doesn't look like it since there was a door they could have used. Or maybe they just didn't care about those inside, simply because they prefer to use cannabis instead of the more deadly drug alcohol and even though those inside were causing no harm to others it don't matter coz they were breaking the law. An unjust law that harms not one person. It's a damn disgrace the price we all have to pay because of prohibition!
6

Dan Thompson, RAG,

Worthing 25/10/2007 19:26:22
At least a cannabis cafe makes it easy for the Police! No hard work finding drug users then, is there? I had a mountain bike stolen recently, and was told there was little chance that it would be found so it would be recorded as a 'closed case'. Finding stolen property is too much hard work for our public servants I guess...
7

David wickings,

26/10/2007 05:43:57
they sould open a larger one get all the scum in there and call an air strike!!! would save all the paper work too!
8

David wickings,

26/10/2007 05:46:44
roflmao cannabis cafe my backside wasn`t they used to be called "a pot house" looks like a new word gets invented every day or am i just showing my age lmao.
9

John Watson,

Baker Street 26/10/2007 09:52:31
You are certainly showing something, David.
10

Martin Bocking,

Worthing 27/10/2007 17:14:16
"Suspected Cannabis Cafe", SUSPECTED, whatever happened to the innocent until proven guilty saying?
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