POT CAFE REOPENS DAY AFTER RAID

VANCOUVER -- Less than one day after a police raid on Vancouver's
controversial pot cafe, a new load of marijuana was delivered and
business was brisk as customers lined up to buy, roll and smoke B. C.
bud.

Joint-smoking tourists hammed outside Da Kine Cafe on Commercial
Drive, shooting photos of themselves exhaling clouds of pungent smoke.

As afternoon sales continued, a number of cafe staff members arrested
in the police raid the night before appeared in provincial court on
drug charges.

Vancouver police seized 20 pounds of marijuana, a pound of hashish and
$63,000 cash during the raid on Da Kine, which senior police officials
characterized as a significant drug house.

Investigators counted more than 230 visitors to the business within an
hour and a half during their surveillance, said Insp. Dave Nelmes,
head of the Vancouver police drug section, and the store did some
$30,000 of business a day.

He said the store's cash register indicated Da Kine had made $27,000
in sales on the day of the raid.

Drug squad investigators arrested seven cafe staff members and Nelmes
said police have recommended to Crown prosecutors that they be charged
with drug trafficking and possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking.

Of the 33 customers in the store, Nelmes said some were 18 years old
and younger though he said he did not know how many were teenagers.

"This was not a small, insignificant passion club," said Acting Deputy
Chief Bob Rolls. "This was a drug house and a very significant operation."

Nelmes said an Aug. 26 tip to the Crime Stoppers line alerted police
that Da Kine was selling pot, several days before cafe owner Carol
Gwilt went public about the store's marijuana sales and the plea that
the four-month-old business be allowed to stay open.

Rolls added that police had received a complaint about Da Kine through
its Grandview Woodlands community policing office and another
complaint from a citizen.

He said Da Kine's "flaunting their criminal activity and demonstrating
their contempt for the laws of Canada" elevated it as a priority for
police.

"We're concerned about enforcing the rule of law," Rolls said. "We're
also concerned about the message it sends not to go out and take care
of these places. So, it was in front of the public, and we took action."

Nelmes added that the drug squad decided last week that it could go
ahead with the raid based on its available resources and plans for
other investigations.

"(Thursday) seemed like the best day to do it," he
said.

Nelmes added that his unit's investigation "covered a lot of premises
on Commercial Drive," and that they have obtained evidence for
possible future actions.

Rolls repeated that B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman's statement
Wednesday that open pot sales were unacceptable while city politicians
took "ho hum attitude" had no bearing on the police action.