A numbered company authorized to grow medical marijuana is suing the District of Maple Ridge, claiming the municipality is wrongfully trying to recover costs associated

A numbered company authorized to grow medical marijuana is suing the District of Maple Ridge, claiming the municipality is wrongfully trying to recover costs associated with a police raid on the firm’s property in August 2013.

Donald Briere’s conviction record goes back to 1972

VANCOUVER -- Recent court documents allege a Vancouver-based pot shop kingpin has a lengthy criminal record, has been selling pot to 16-year-olds and claims to have been threatened by the Hells Angels.

The information is contained in a police application for a warrant to raid Weeds Glass + Gifts at 2916 West 4th Ave. near Macdonald Street, which is run by Donald Briere.

The revelation is second this month illustrating the involvement of organized crime in the pot dispensary business.

If you were ever thinking about growing and selling marijuana, Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia may have the course for you.

This fall, the university will offer a course called Introduction to Professional Management of Marijuana for Medical Purposes in Canada, believed to be the first of its kind, which will teach students how to operate a marijuana business under new government regulations.

Vancouver Police have now executed a search warrant on an illegal marijuana store after it was determined that the store had ties to organized crime.

Members of the VPD’s Drug Unit executed the warrant at Limelife Society, located at 4866 Rupert Street.

Police say one employee was arrested and released at the scene and police seized some evidence as part of their investigation.

In July, investigators say they received information that the store had ties to an organized crime group. Further investigation revealed that marijuana was being sold to youth and to those without a valid license.

An associate of the Hells Angels is listed as the operator of an East Vancouver medical dispensary, according to a search warrant executed in a raid on the business.

The court document claims the Pitt Meadows resident, who has not been charged in association with the investigation, shows up in City of Vancouver records associated with the Limelife Society at Society at 4866 Rupert St.

'High end' vehicles

"He is a known Hells Angel associate and is 'Of  Interest' in five separate gang intel files since 2010," the warrant states.

Vancouver police swore the information this week to obtain a search warrant for the business.

According to the court document, police started investigating after observing "new and high end" vehicles in the parking lot.

Canada’s legal medicinal-marijuana suppliers are struggling, and part of the reason why is Vancouver’s illegal cannabis storefronts.

“There is no question it has been a challenge,” Tilray CEO Greg Engel said in a telephone interview. “The proliferation of illegal dispensaries has had a significant impact.”

CKNW 980 reporter Shelby Thom was booted from a Conservative Party rally in Richmond on Tuesday evening because she was asking Tory supporters about marijuana, she claimed on Twitter.

The Prime Minister and most local CPC candidates were in attendance at the event, which was held at Pacific Gateway Hotel. It was Stephen Harper’s first appearance in B.C. during the 2015 election campaign.

. @pmharper speech was over. Began interviewing supporters about marijuana. Told my staffer event was over , I continued , approached by…

— Shelby Thom (@ShelbyThom980) August 12, 2015

another staffer to follow him. I walked towards lobby, he directed me to door, I walked outside and he closed door behind me .

UBC’s medical school is rolling out a new curriculum next month, but it won’t include more training on medical marijuana.

Three hours of class time is currently dedicated to the controversial medicine, even though doctors have now become the gatekeepers of the drug.

The Assistant Dean of Curriculum for the medical undergraduate program, Adam Peet, says there are few rigorous studies to guide even experienced physicians, much less medical students.

He was asked if education could be expanded one day.

As Vancouver struggled to regulate its explosion of marijuana dispensaries, top provincial health officials considered how they could legalize the recreational use of the drug across British Columbia.

In a series of e-mails released through a Freedom of Information request, the health officials acknowledged there would likely be little progress toward legalization while the staunchly anti-drug Conservatives hold power in Ottawa, instead suggesting such a radical change would likely come about only if the Liberals win the fall election.