POT-SHOP OWNER GIVES UP LICENCE

Da Kine Cafe owner Carol Gwilt surrendered her business licence yesterday
and the doors of her Commercial Drive pot shop are now officially closed.

Gwilt's lawyer, Jason Gratl, said she voluntarily surrendered the licence.

A business-licence hearing set for today has been cancelled.

The three councillors overseeing the hearing were to decide what to do with
the licence, which was granted earlier this year and allowed the store to
sell gifts, publications and clothing.

"She surrendered the licence with great sadness and regret," Gratl said,
adding that Da Kine "was a project she believed in."

The store that sold marijuana over the counter to customers who claimed to
have a medical need for it was raided by dozens of Vancouver police officers
last month shortly after the cafe's activities were reported in the media.
Officers seized nine kilograms of marijuana, about 450 grams of hashish and
about $63,000.

Gwilt, who is being held in jail, is charged with possession of marijuana
for the purpose of trafficking and possessing proceeds of crime.

She is to appear in Vancouver Provincial Court today and Gratl said he will
try in the coming days to have her "liberated."

Da Kine spokesman Lorne McLeod is also to appear in court today, charged
with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.