I know it is the middle of November so why do I get the feeling it is really the first of April?

There is absolute madness in the air. What about this Colin Davies and his ambitions to open illegal drug cafes around the country?

While his latest targets appear to be Brighton and Worthing, he has a significant problem of his own to deal with before he can even attempt to set up shop in Sussex.

When he tried to open his "Dutch Experience" dope cafe in Stockport recently, police properly raided it and closed it down.

Colin Davies was taken to court and bailed to appear again next Tuesday.

Hopefully, from there, he will go to prison. There is little point fining the man or his Dutch business partner. The payment will certainly come from drug profits.

Just remember, in spite of all the propaganda to the contrary from those advocating a liberal drugs policy, marijuana can be very dangerous indeed.

It can lead to memory loss, impairment of attention, sudden dark changes of mood into paranoia, anxiety and panic. It may even trigger schizophrenia.

Liberal campaigners are being misleading, as they so often are, when they claim a joint is no more harmful than an alcoholic drink.

Large amounts of alcohol are needed to achieve the same, mind-altering feelings of relaxation you can get with a tiny amount of marijuana.

More significantly, tests have shown that cannabis still influences the brain up to 50 hours after a joint has been smoked.

The effect of that on car drivers, train drivers, pilots and others is frightening.

We do not want the likes of Colin Davies in Brighton. Those who think they can push this country's drugs laws beyond the limits must be stopped before they can even get started.

While I have no doubt Sussex Police would be as tough as the Stockport police in their response to dope cafes, it was a spokesman for the Diocese of Chichester, who finally convinced me it really was April Fool's Day.

Instead of giving an unequivocal response, showing firm guidance and saying drug taking and drug selling are wrong, he came up with the immortal line: "Any drug-taking will cause problems with people's integrity."

With church people handing out such waffle, it comes as no surprise to hear that at the General Synod this week, the Christian church in England was warned it faces imminent decline. It has lost its ability to attract under-55s to its congregations.

The first national survey into the state of English churchgoing revealed that 45 per cent of worshippers are often frustrated or bored and it defined the typical churchgoer as a widowed Conservative voter in her 70s.

A wicked thought, but as it is really April Fool's Day, instead of running Colin Davies out of town, perhaps we should just send him off to do a deal with the good folk of the Diocese of Chichester.