POT-SMOKERS CHOKED BY BLAZE

A block of West Hastings Street best known for toking was really smoking
yesterday.

Businesses on the block adjacent to Hamilton Street and Victory Square went
up in smoke after a dumpster fire spread to the adjacent Blunt Brothers
marijuana coffee house and the Cabbages and Kinks fetish- wear store.

"It's the end of an era," said Cabbages owner Stephen Lippold, surveying
the damage. "I've been at it for 31 years.

"There will be nothing to be salvaged. It's all over."

About 50 firefighters battled the suspicious fire on a block that is also
home to the B.C. Marijuana Party, whose headquarters was hit with smoke and
water damage.

Nick Matovich was upset to see the Blunt Brothers cafe smoking away.

"As of today, we don't really have a marijuana-tourist-friendly community
in B.C. any more," said the Blunt Brothers worker, "because that's it
burning up right there."

A number of smaller businesses were also hit.

"I've lost a lifetime of work," said artist Ken Gerberick, sadly watching
the fire that engulfed his studio.

"But I'll still keep making art -- that's what I do."

Firefighters spent several hours battling the late-morning blaze, which
sent up a huge plume of smoke visible from much of the Lower Mainland.