cannabisnews.com: Fire Guts City's Famous 'Pot Block' Fire Guts City's Famous 'Pot Block' Posted by CN Staff on April 26, 2004 at 16:43:35 PT By John Mackie, Vancouver Sun Source: Vancouver Sun Vancouver's world-renowned "pot block" was engulfed in smoke Sunday morning as fire destroyed a significant piece of the city's heritage.The three-alarm fire raged through a two-storey building at 311-317 West Hastings, gutting the Blunt Brothers, a marijuana-oriented cafe that billed itself as "a respectable joint." Smoke from the blaze on the edge of Gastown could be seen as far away as White Rock. Vintage clothing store Cabbages and Kinx was also destroyed, as was Spartacus Books, a long-standing left-wing bookstore.The B.C. Marijuana Party headquarters and bookstore are located next door at 307 West Hastings, a building that suffered major smoke and water damage. Other pot-oriented businesses were located on the upper floors of the building.Capt. Rob Jones-Cook of the Vancouver fire department said initial reports were that the fire started about 6:30 a.m. in a dumpster in the back lane behind the buildings. It quickly spread to two more dumpsters and then to the rear of 311 West Hastings."I will not say it's arson, but it could be a suspicious fire," said Jones-Cook.There were 11 fire trucks on the scene and more than 50 firefighters, and the fire was contained well before noon. The firefighters found a small marijuana-growing operation in one of structures.The 300 block of Hastings has achieved international renown in the past few years because of all the marijuana-oriented businesses there. Pot tourists showed up by the thousands to smoke a joint in North America's only pot cafes, the Blunt Brothers and the New Amsterdam (which recently closed). Even comedian Tommy Chong came to Blunt Brothers to smoke a joint. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/potblock.htmSource: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: John Mackie, Vancouver Sun Published: Monday, April 26, 2004Copyright: 2004 Vancouver Sun Contact: sunletters png.canwest.comWebsite: http://www.vancouversun.com/ Related Article & Web Sites:Blunt Brothershttp://www.bluntbros.com/BC Marijuana Partyhttp://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/Blaze Guts 3-Storey Vancouver Heritage Buildinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18733.shtmlCannabisNews -- Canada Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/Canada.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by Jose Melendez on May 04, 2004 at 05:23:36 PT phoenix rising from ashes http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3423.html - - - "According to an ancient saying, the tree of religions, with its roots in Heaven, scatters its branches upon Earth. This tree yields constantly fruits of different kind, and the main duty of man is to know in depth those fruits, to select them properly, and to enjoy life, to be happy and to aim at a transcendental existence."from google.com's html version of: http://www.santiagobovisio.com/pdf/b23.pdfSee (listen) also, music inks at the bottom of:http://pipepeace.com/z [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Jose Melendez on April 28, 2004 at 17:46:59 PT security cameras are higher quality, smaller the more angles, the better, pipe the video out to a DVR or MPEG4 board:http://www.vcrinc.com/Products/VCSystem/VCSys.htmhttp://www.bernclare.com/mpegator4.htmhttp://rock2000.com/http://www.supercircuits.com/store/home.asp"During the past 18 months," Mirken told me in a phone interview, "the DEA appears to have de-emphasized the raids." Admitting that he was speculating on the reasons for the change in strategy, Mirken allowed that since this is an election year, "Gestapo-like behavior unleashed by previous raids brought a fair amount of negative publicity to the agency. Images of severely-ill people harassed by armed government agents is not an image that Karl Rove, the president's top advisor, would be happy SEEING ON TELEVISION. (emphasis added -jm) "Which is not to say that John Walters, the drug czar, hasn't been fighting tooth and nail against medical marijuana," Mirken added. "Of late, Andrea Barthwell, one of a handful of deputy directors at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, has been going around the country denouncing medical marijuana proposals and spreading disinformation." http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=16840see also: http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/010315.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on April 28, 2004 at 13:19:48 PT Marc Emery Says That Arson Is Now Confirmed Arson hits Vancouver's pot block by Dana Larsen (28 Apr, 2004) Blunt Brothers destroyed by fire, BC Marijuana Party store survives. http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3418.html"Police have found conclusive evidence that someone intended to torch the pot block with multiple set infernos," said Marc Emery, President of the BC Marijuana Party and the unofficial leaders of Vancouver's pot movement. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on April 27, 2004 at 04:56:48 PT Video report Marc says the damage to his store is not too bad, but next door, I believe it's Blunt Bros., is hit pretty hard. Marc says they hope to be open by Wednesday, and Blunt Bros. plans to rebuild. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on April 27, 2004 at 04:50:12 PT Video now available http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2648.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment