NORTH Wales Police drugs officers have travelled to Amsterdam to find out how their Dutch counterparts deal with drugs possession.
The move comes as a businessman prepares to open a Dutchstyle cannabis cafe in Rhyl.
Jeff Ditchfield says the cafe, at an undisclosed address in the town, could open later this month. Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom has called for a fresh debate on the drugs laws but has vowed to close the cafe, if it opens.
Dutch laws are even more liberal than Home Office proposals to reclassify cannabis as a class C - rather than class B - drug in the UK.
Cannabis can be bought in many coffee shops in Amsterdam, where possession of the drug for personal use has been tolerated for years.
It is estimated that the Dutch capital has more than 250 coffee shops. Senior police officers in Amsterdam believe the coffee shop system works, allowing them to concentrate on tackling hard drugs.
Following his fact-finding mission to the Netherlands Sgt Dewi Roberts said: "It is very complicated what they are doing here.
"It is not legal as such but it is tolerated by police. However, if any of the conditions of the licence are broken they are punished quite heavily."
Mr Ditchfield, 42, from Henllan, has welcomed the fact-finding trip.
He told the Daily Post last night: "I have said all along that I want to work with the police in this project. The cafØ I want open will be on the Dutch model.
"It will be for over 18s only, only cannabis will be available and no hard drugs will be available. I want the police to monitor the cafe."
Elsewhere in the UK, police have been relaxing their attitude to possession of small amounts of cannabis.
A pilot scheme has been carried out in Lambeth, south London, where people found in possession of small amounts of cannabis were cautioned rather than arrested.
But Mr Brunstrom has gone further, suggesting the legalisation of drugs in recognition of the impossibility of enforcing their prohibition.
However, he has insisted he remains obliged to enforce the law as it stands...SUPL:
