ACTIVISTS DECRY POT CAFE MOTIVES

VANCOUVER - Impatient pot-heads, high enough to think they can
force the legalization of marijuana, are ruining a relaxed
relationship with police by brazenly buying and selling weed in a
downtown cafe, says one legalization activist.

''The heat is perceived to be on us even more because of their
activities,'' said Ted Smith, founder of a 1,300-member compassion
club that sells marijuana to sick people.

The Da Kine Smokeshop in the bohemian Commercial Drive neighbourhood
is just in it for the money while pretending to be a righteous
provider of relief to the ill who say marijuana alleviates pain and
suffering, he said.

Police officers who raided the cafe said later the majority of the
customers in Da Kine were young and unable to show they had a federal
exemption allowing them to smoke pot.

Investigators estimated the shop has gross sales of $500,000 a
month.

''They're doing sales every 15-20 seconds, over the counter as quick
as possible,'' Smith said in an interview from his Victoria Cannabis
Buyers Club office.

''They're not furthering the cause, they're hiding behind people in
wheelchairs.

''It's going to be really hard for anyone to open up a storefront for
a medical club for B.C. if not Canada without the police wanting to go
through a court case.

''They've done a fair amount of harm the way they have attacked the
law here.''

Vancouver police Const. Sarah Bloor says officers are now
investigating other stores along Commercial Drive that are allegedly
selling pot.

Smith has been able to stay out of jail by requiring customers to
produce a note from a doctor verifying they are ill.

A provincial court judge ruled he was following responsible procedures
and running a compassion club. The judge stayed charges against Smith
this month.

Even the lawyer for Da Kine's owner Carol Gwilt and her friends says
Gwilt's approach isn't the way to convince politicians to relax pot
laws.

John Conroy is instead taking the fight to a higher road he said gives
the movement more credibility.

He is on a campaign to revive a national lobby group called Norml
Canada that was powerful in the 1970s and 1980s. ''With a minority
government in power, now is the time,'' he said.

''We need to work on the politicians and it's hard to do that from
behind bars.''

It's easy to start thinking legalization is just a hash brownie away
while spacing out in any Commercial Drive head shop.

It may seem like everyone is on side, but it's just everyone in the
neighbourhood, said Smith.

Hundreds of people turned off their chill-out tunes and snapped away
from the TV to stand up for Da Kine.

They shouted at the police to leave the peaceful smokers alone and lit
joints in protest.

Even a week later, people who support the operation were hanging out
outside the store, waiting for it to reopen.

Conroy has advised Gwilt to stop doing the deals herself.

Others have stepped in to run the Da Kine for her, but on Wednesday, a
confused employee said the keys had gone missing.

Police have busted the alleged supplier.