It’s high society! Dope festival’s very posh venue
A SCOTS stately home has become the unlikely setting for a battle over the legalisation of cannabis.
This summer, more than 1,000 drug users plan to take over the grounds of 350-year-old Kinneil House in Bo’ness, West Lothian, for the first ever Big Puff event.
Organised by campaign group Legalise Cannabis Scotland, the pro-drugs rally will include talks on the ‘health benefits’ of the Class B drug. Cannabis seeds and drug paraphernalia will be on sale.
Revellers have also pledged to light up pipes, bongs and cannabis cigarettes en masse.
But the local community has raised concerns that the event on Saturday, July 28, will glamorise drug-taking and have called on the authorities to prevent it.
Kinneil House and its 160-acre grounds attract thousands of visitors every year. The Big Puff event, half way through the school holidays, is expected to be one of the busiest days of the summer.
Legalise Cannabis Scotland founder Andy Roy said he chose Kinneil House so those attending the event could enjoy its ‘lovely grounds’ while they get high.
Mr Roy, who admits self-medicating with cannabis for pain relief, said: ‘We hope this event will help educate people about the benefits cannabis has as a medicine. We will also discuss how to achieve legalisation in the UK. We want to see cannabis decriminalised as it is doing no one any harm.’
Although Kinneil House is run by Historic Environment Scotland, the grounds are managed by Falkirk Community Trust, which confirmed it would try to block the Big Puff.
Parks spokesman Claire Mennim said: ‘Although we encourage everyone to use our public parks for responsible and appropriate activities, the taking of illegal drugs does not fall under this category.
‘Should we receive a request for an event encouraging the use of cannabis, it will be refused.’
Local councillor David Aitchison said: ‘This event sets the wrong image for the town.’