Popular cafe sees marijuana taken off menu

VANCOUVER, B.C. – There’s no more marijuana on the menu at the Da Kine cafe.

The Da Kine Smoke and Beverage Shop on Vancouver’s hip Commercial Drive was shut down after police seized some 20 pounds of marijuana worth about $49,000, hashish and 300 cookies baked with hash or weed in a raid last Thursday, Acting Deputy Chief Bob Rolls said.

During one 90-minute surveillance period, police saw 230 customers, and estimate the cafe was taking in about $22,500 a day, Rolls said.

Seven workers and one customer were taken into custody Thursday. There were 33 people in the cafe during the raid.

Many screamed at the officers to go home and smoked joints as police videotaped the crowd.

Although marijuana is illegal in Canada, the country’s Liberal government has said it is committed toward decriminalizing the herb in minor amounts. City Councilor Jim Green said there is a tolerance in Vancouver to these kinds of establishments.

Owner Carol Gwilt said she did not consider what she was doing illegal. She was jailed on charges of possessing marijuana for trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime. She was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Gwilt’s lawyer, Jason Gratl, said Tuesday she surrendered her business license “with great sadness and regret,” adding that Da Kine “was a project she believed in.