HULL'S MARIJUANA MISSIONARY

BBCi Humber Meets Carl Wagner, The Man At The Centre Of Hull's Herb-Smoking
Scandal

Carl Wagner has a vision. To open the city's first cannabis cafe and see
all criminal association with the plant go up in smoke.

The owner of the Divine Herb stall in Hull's indoor market is a man on a
marijuana mission.

As he chats, the free-flowing customers come and go and his phone rings
incessantly.

Having already spoken to The Guardian and The Yorkshire Post, he deals with
press interest with seeming ease.

He has his eye on premises in Hull's High Street and is determined to see
his one-stop shop idea come to fruition.

"I've been asking all my customers if they would want a cafe, and they're
up for it."

Recreational pleasures aside, the evangelical 'Doctor Draw' reels off an
endless list of medicinal benefits and real life stories when weed has come
to the rescue.

He tells of a 55-year-old female customer suffering from fibromyalgia - a
muscular-skeletal pain and fatigue disorder.

Months before, he says, the woman categorised cannabis and heroin in the
same breath.

Having been converted to the cause, Carl was by her side when she devoured
her first chunk of cannabis chocolate.

Since opening his stall six months ago, he has a regular supply of custom
for a cacophony of legal, cannabis-related produce.

A personal favourite is his 'Spliff-time' clock.

Top-selling tips and seeds to hemp pasta may come at a price, but advice is
free.

"The kids in Hull get more drug education on my stall than they do from any
drug education officer."

"They should acknowledge that 8-10 million people are smoking poison."

Carl is under no illusion that opposition to the cannabis cafe will be rife.

But he is ready to challenge those who will prevent his pot-smoking dream
become a reality.

"The people who oppose it without discussion are the ones I want answers
from," he says. "These people need educating."

You soon realise there's more on this man's agenda than turning Hull into
the skunk capital of the north.

The 43-year old father of six has no criminal record for cannabis offences
but openly admits to being a free-smoker.

He denies serious political aspirations but did stand as a candidate for
the Legalise Cannabis Alliance in the last General Election, pulling in
around 500 votes.

He quotes the 1971 Dangerous Drugs Act like poetry and campaigns for more
than decriminalisation.

He is the one-man organiser behind the Hull leg of Sunday's Million
Marijuana march, which alights at Queens Gardens at 1pm and culminates in a
'Smoky Bears Picnic' at Pearson Park.

Expected numbers are unknown.

"I am hoping it will be thousands rather than hundreds," he says, but
having spoken to the police he adds they are fearful they have
underestimated support.

Sitting behind his hemp haven, there's not only a common bond but burly
banter between Carl and his customers.

One 54-year-old man says he fully supports what Carl does.

"I am a fully paid-up member of society," he says.

"I work, I pay my taxes and I'm fed up of being treated like a criminal.

"We do no harm to anybody but we enjoy what we enjoy. Beer doesn't agree
with me, that is why I turn to drugs."

"It's a plant, a plant," Carl chips in.

"It's the world's most valuable resource."