POT-DISPENSING CAFE'S OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES

Related Cases Remain On The Docket In Staggeringly Costly Waste Of Resources

Carol Gwilt, owner of the defunct Da Kine Cafe that openly sold pot
on Commercial Drive two years ago, pleaded guilty Thursday to
possession of marijuana for trafficking and possession of the
proceeds of crime.

In a surprise move at her B.C. Supreme Court sentencing on two
unrelated charges, Gwilt said after "solemn reflection" she decided
to take responsibility and spare everyone the expense of the jury
trial set to hear the Da Kine counts.

"It was a difficult decision to make," the 40-year-old Fraser Valley
resident said outside the courtroom.

"I'm still kind of in shock."

Judge Catherine Wedge adjourned proceedings until Sept. 5.

Gwilt pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purposes of
trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime in connection
with the cafe that gained international attention in 2004.

During that summer, Commercial Drive seemed an Amsterdam on the
Pacific with several stores offering cannabis products over the
counter and space for recreational users to light up a joint.

Thousands descended on Da Kine to flout the marijuana law.

The tastefully decorated cafe offered a variety of cannabis products,
soft drinks and snacks from April until September, when former B.C.
solicitor-general Rich Coleman publicly attacked the Vancouver Police
Department for not enforcing the criminal code.

Police alleged Gwilt was doing $30,000 a day in business and some
14,000 people went through Da Kine's doors during one two-week period.

Da Kine also caused parking havoc in the neighbourhood, raising the
ire of some merchants and residents and upping pressure on city hall
to step in.

As a result, on Sept. 9, 2004, scores of officers shut down the Drive
during the dinner rush hour and the balaclava-clad police tactical
team stormed into the cafe.

Investigators seized nine kilograms of marijuana, some hashish and
300 cannabis-laced cookies, as well as about $60,000 in U.S. and
Canadian currency.

They could have accomplished the same in my opinion by walking in
with a search warrant, asking Gwilt to close the shop and surrender her stock.

Da Kine was a coffee house, not a clubhouse for armed motorcycle hoodlums.

Gwilt, who consumes marijuana to combat bouts of chronic vertigo, is
gregarious and mild-mannered.

A week after the raid, on Sept. 16, police arrested her in a car
along with a sizable bag of marijuana and some $5,000.

In May, a B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted her of those charges and
she was to be sentenced Thursday on those counts.

Instead, she told the court she would plead guilty to the Da Kine
charges as well and asked to be sentenced on both incidents.

Although Gwilt could be sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence, that
is unlikely.

Her lawyer, Jason Gratl, will tell the court the medical marijuana
activist was trying to fill a legitimate need.

Gwilt maintained the store did not do as much business as police claim.

She had hoped to use the Da Kine trial as a platform for attacking
the country's marijuana laws but the recent jury verdict raised
serious questions about pursuing that legal strategy.

Outside the courtroom Thursday, Gratl said Gwilt opened the cafe in
the trendy district only after discussions with the VPD and city
hall. He portrayed her as a political activist -- not a criminal.

"Civil disobedience is the only possible response to an unjust law,"
Gratl insisted.

Da Kine became a lightning rod for drug debate in the city when the
media revealed it was selling marijuana to anyone who signed a form
saying they required pot for "medicinal purposes."

No doctor's letter or Health Canada exemption was required and a
broken heart was as legitimate an ailment as AIDS.

The cafe defiantly opened briefly after the massive police raid, but
its days were numbered and it soon closed for good.

Several former employees were also charged in connection with the
cafe and remain before the court.

Gwilt's partner, Don Briere, is also to be tried on related charges
later this year.

The cost of the police investigation and the continuing legal
proceedings related to Da Kine has been staggering.

In my opinion, it has been a waste of resources.