WE'VE
ARRIVED
AND TO
PROVE IT
WE'RE HERE
READ THIS STORY IN
PRINTABLE PLAIN TEXT
WELCOME to the first web
issue of Coffeehouse Culture.
With a little help from the
pixels at the bottom of our
garden, we have finally made
it. And this time around we
are going to do it better. This
time around? In case you do
not know, Coffeehouse Culture
started its life as a paper
publication produced in
Amsterdam. One issue was
produced and 15,000 copies
were distributed in Amsterdam
and the UK. Many of them are
now probably lining cat litters
in both places.
This, however, is not a paper
publication (touch your screen
if you do not believe us.) Nor is
it totally the same as the paper
version. Some stories have
been left out because of new
material. (All the new stuff is
flagged so you know what is

---

Who says
there is no
reincarnation?
To prove our
previous exist-
ence, here is
ourfirst and, so
far, only poster.
It advertised
the first issue
with the slogan:
'Something
to read in the Louvre'. The first of
a series of posters taking liberties
with some of the world's great

works of art, the poster made it
onto our T- shirt and became
something of a collectors item. A
few copies still remain and are
available at an astronomical price
from the Culture Shop. Although we
won't be using them for street
advertising any more, the whole
set of posters still exists and we'll
be releasing a new one for sale
through the Culture Shop with
each issue.
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what.) And inevitably there
have been changes in the
format and layout. For all the
changes, we have tried to
retain the overall 'feel' of the
paper version.
This is a marriage of a paper
publication to a new medium.
Something old, something
new, something borrowed,
something brown. And there
you have Coffeehouse Culture.
But, and it is a big 'but', this is
the web. You know that
extraordinary interactive-
multimedia-all-bells-and-

showing the effects of too
much screen viewing which,
exercising his ghoulish sense
of humour, he has called
'French Freyes.' Working in
the tradition of the Blair
Witch Project, the Docker has
made good use of the shaking
hand technique to which --
as a sufferer of delirium
tremens -- he adds a unique
and, at times, impossibly
erratic authenticity. However,

whistles thingy. Not much of
that here, we're afraid.
Coffeehouse Culture was, as
is the nature of paper
publications, text-based and
was, therefore, only marginally
interactive and then exclusively
on a cerebral level.
Coffeehouse Culture was
designed to be read sitting
comfortably with a joint on the

vision, the good Docker's
recommendation is: "Use
common sense. Don't sit
staring at you computer
screen if your eyes feel sore.
Download and print out the
articles if you must read
them."
To completely freak you out,
our conscientious quack has
prepared a short movie

go and a cup of coffee to
hand. Inter-inactivity, as it were.
But! That word again. All this
will change. So far as
multimedia interactivity goes,
the Coffeehouse Culture site
has plenty of that. And,
philistines that we are, we will
be sullying even the pages of
this pristine journal with cheap

(but not in the time they take to
download) gimmicks and
those picture things. If the
download times overwhelm
your boredom threshold, turn
off 'graphics' in your browser
for a faster but less
aesthetically pleasing
experience. Soon we will
coming up with not only a text-
only version but a PDF so you
can print out Coffeehouse
Culture and, maybe, read it
with a joint on the go and a cup
of coffee to hand.
In making the transition to the
web we have tried to create a
balance between the text and
the bells-and-whistles stuff.
That is why the Coffeehouse
Culture site is a much broader
enterprise than merely an e-
zine. Even within this section
of the site we have tried to
offer slightly more than just
text and pictures. And as we
gain increasing mastery over
this web mystery, the
interactivity will increase.
Although Coffeehouse
Culture might have something
important to say, it was never
set up to be anything more
than an entertainment for
those with the same interests
as the editor and other
contributors. And there is
much more scope for
entertainment on the web.
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Tony Blair's New Labour Government needs money. Committed to sticking to the Tories' spending plans and with a whole lot of expensive new measures of its own in hand, 'New' Labour has real money problems.
However, a solution is at hand. As Coffeehouse Culture reveals in its lead Cannabisness story (see 'Let the Good Times Roll', page 4), the UK has a new and vibrant growth industry that could easily produce the necessary funds to secure the already faltering reputation of Tony Blair's government. With these funds, Blair would no longer find it necessary to tighten the screws on the poverty-stricken to support the health service, education changes and other measures that have been 'promised'.
The potential money-spinner for the UK Government is the large and growing domestic cannabis industry. With over 23% of 16 to 25 year olds in the UK smoking cannabis on a regular basis, the size of this industry can only be guessed at but in any terms it must be viewed as extremely large. With suitable licensing and taxation measures in place the cannabis industry could provide Tony Blair's Government with all the funds it needs.
While licensing and taxing the cannabis industry might be an extreme response to Blair's financial problems, it would certainly solve the Government's dilemma. Such a move would, of course, be beyond the Government's courage or imagination without a major repositioning of cannabis in the public arena.
Although a cannabis public-profile 'makeover' might seem to be an unachievable dream, it is not impossible. Nonetheless, Coffeehouse Culture will be doing everything it can to help the Blair Government, as it is doing what it can for the Dutch Government.
The Coffeehouse Culture 'Support From Unexpected Quarters' Initiative with governments is just one of the ways in which Coffeehouse Culture will be trying to integrate the cannabis culture into society as a whole. The pivot of its activities on behalf of the cannabis community will, however, be based on the phenomenon that is represented by Amsterdam's coffeeshop society as it emerges as a full culture.
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FOR THOSE of you in permanent accommodation, Coffeehouse Culture will
soon be available in a form that does not provide protection from the elements.
es, you've guessed it, for all you stoned people out there with no lives, we are
going on the web. With the help of the great God, Technosweat, our site should
be up and running not long after the first issue appears. Just what the world
needs, another web site!