MPs call for cannabis cafes

Cafes like this could be seen in Britain

Senior Welsh backbencher Paul Flynn has sponsored a motion in the House of Commons calling for cannabis cafes to be set up in Britain along the lines of those in the Netherlands.

Mr Flynn, the MP for Newport West, has been a long-time campaigner for the decriminalisation of the drug.

The Commons motion is co-sponsored by Ann Clwyd, the MP for the Cynon Valley, and has been signed by 13 other MPs at Westminster - including three Conservatives.

They all want the licensed cafes to be set up on a trial basis and say the plan has the support of the Police Federation.

But the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs has called on parties in the Assembly to distance themselves from the move by MPs.

Paul Flynn: Cafes would be properly policed

Mr Flynn said that a Police Foundation report had found that after 20 years of drug decriminalisation in the Netherlands, young people there use cannabis less than they do in Britain.

They also discovered that young Dutch people were less likely to use heroin than in any country in Europe.

"It is clear that the British policy on prohibition of drugs is not working and indeed is actually making matters worse," Mr Flynn told BBC Newsonline Wales.

"We need a system which can be licensed and properly policed."

Mr Flynn had tried several times to persuade Parliament to allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical use but had always failed because of a lack of parliamentary time.

However the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs has called on parties in the Assembly to distance themselves from MPs who have supported proposals for the Amsterdam-style cannabis coffee shops.