HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Content-Type: text/html
Pot Society Founder Back In Jail
Pubdate: Wed, 15 Sep 2004
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Jeff Lee
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/kine+cafe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/donald+briere
POT SOCIETY FOUNDER BACK IN JAIL
Donald Briere Faces Marijuana Trafficking Charge
VANCOUVER - The founder of the society supplying pot at the Da Kine
Smoke and Beverage Shop is back in jail on a charge of possessing
marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Donald Briere, who was on parole for growing marijuana, money
laundering and a weapons offence, was taken into custody Sunday, four
days after Vancouver police raided the Da Kine, a Commercial Drive
store that continues to defiantly sell marijuana.
Court documents indicate he was charged with possession of up to three
kilograms of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking.
On Tuesday Briere was taken to Burnaby General Hospital complaining of
chest pains, but was discharged and taken back to Vancouver Remand
Centre in the afternoon, according to his lawyer, John Conroy.
Briere and his daughter, Colleen Denise Briere Smart, are directors of
the Canadian Sanctuary Society, a registered non-profit society whose
aims are to advocate for the legalization of marijuana, and to supply
pot for medical purposes.
The society is continuing to operate the Da Kine, despite the arrest
of owner Carol Gwilt and seven others. On Tuesday, there appeared to
be no slow-down in the number of customers lining up to buy pot.
People lined up out the door and were sold multiple packs of pot,
which were selling for $2.50 for a joint and $10 a gram.
The defiance of the shop's volunteers infuriated Eileen Mosca,
president of the Grandview-Woodlands Community Policing Centre, who
said her group repeatedly warned city hall about the society's plans
to open a pot shop one block away from Britannia Secondary School.
Mosca said the centre learned of Gwilt's plans after her attempt to
open up a similar shop in the Collingwood area earlier in the year was
rebuffed. The Collingwood Community Policing Centre called Mosca and
city hall to warn that Gwilt had announced she would instead move to
the Commercial Drive area.
When an officer from the Grandview-Woodlands policing centre and a
licence inspector visited Da Kine Jan. 19, they discovered Gwilt doing
renovations without a permit.
When they asked her what her plans were, she told them they planned to
"open a cafe/compassion club," according to a copy of the licence and
inspection report filed with the city.
"When asked what they meant by a compassion club, Carol Gwilt stated
'for the dispensing of medicinal marijuana,' " the report continued.
The Da Kine's operators were told by the inspector that "they should
come into the licence office to discuss the operation of a compassion
club."
Mosca said that admission was enough to raise concerns with the
policing centre, which then advised city hall, local schools and the
Britannia Community Centre. Despite that, the city issued a licence on
May 4, two weeks after receiving Gwilt's application.
"We did our due diligence, and we went to the city's neighbourhood
integrated services team. We notified schools and community centres
that the business was being proposed, and we didn't want it to open.
But we were totally ignored by the city," she said.
Mosca said the community policing centre received complaints from
parents about the proximity of the pot shop to the school, and a local
business owner watched as people buying pot at the store then re-sold
it to students in a nearby lane.
Barb Windsor, Vancouver's deputy chief licensing inspector, said her
office was warned of Gwilt's intentions in mid-January after a licence
inspector and a police officer visited Da Kine and found Gwilt doing
renovations without a permit.
Windsor said she met with Da Kine in April and obtained a promise that
no marijuana would be sold on the premises. The licence was issued for
a "limited-service food establishment".
Windsor refused to provide The Vancouver Sun with a copy of the
licence application. She said the newspaper would need to file an
application under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
Act to see it, once "private information is removed."
The city is now trying to undo the licence, and has set a council
hearing for Oct. 6. Although the licence department can suspend a
licence, the staff's view was that the Da Kine's owners would appeal
it to council, so it was better to pass this directly on to council,
Windsor said.
But Mosca said city hall knew enough about the intentions of Gwilt, a
long-time pot activist, that it should have refused to issue a licence.
"The paper trail on this indicates to me that they [city hall] are not
being forthright and transparent on this. The paper trail is so clear
that I don't see how they can deny this was done consciously."
Once the licence was issued, Da Kine began immediately selling pot to
people who could show they had a Health Canada permit for medical marijuana.
Within weeks, however, the store changed its policy and began to sell
pot to anyone who filled out an "application for registration" to the
Canadian Sanctuary Society and a declaration that they suffer from an
illness and that "ingesting cannabis has therapeutic benefits to my
medical condition."
Briere formed the society in August 2001, two months before he was
sentenced to four years in prison for his part in a massive marijuana
growing operation that employed up to 80 people. He pleaded guilty to
cultivation, laundering $2.3 million in proceeds, and possessing a
prohibited assault rifle.
Conroy, who represents both Briere and Gwilt, said he's still trying
to unravel the circumstances behind Briere's arrest on Sunday and
can't say whether it is connected directly to the raid on the Da Kine.
A request for an interview with Gwilt, passed through Conroy, was not
answered.
Briere is scheduled to appear in Vancouver provincial court today.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin