Canadian Marc Emery is facing extradition to the United States for running a mail-order marijuana seed business. If extradited, he could spend the rest of his life in prison here, even though what he’s charged with is only a fine in Canada. The effort to extradite him has been led out of Seattle’s US Attorneys office previously run by John McKay. What’s making this case very interesting is that Emery isn’t a dummy, a slacker, or even a remotely threatening human being, and this fact is getting a lot of attention. He started his first business at his parents’ home at the age of 14 in London, Ontario and has long been a champion of entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency. He has used this case to highlight the incredible absurdity of the laws that are being used by the Bush Administration and the DEA to go after him, and sees himself as a martyr representing a country where 55% of the citizens support the legalization of marijuana, even as their current government slavishly obeys the Bush Administration on drug issues.
Last night on CBC, a documentary on Emery called “The Prince of Pot” was aired and it’s already available in its entirety on YouTube. You can see each of the 5 parts here (and you may want to be somewhat careful watching if you’re at work).
FYI, someone is posting comments on Crosscut using the name ‘Will of Horse’s Ass’ –
I guess it could be you, but to quote, I don’t think you are quite so ‘slow and unpleasant’. If it is, you owe me an apology.
Let me know… The article is one about the prudent alternative to Prop. 1. by the demographer Richard Morrill.
-Douglas Tooley
Lincoln Hill, Tacoma
Will and I are different people.
Lee, are you Will of Horse’s Ass over at Crosscut? Interesting exchange.
@3
Um, please read comment #2.
Um, please read comment #2.
************
Strange he would connect that exchange way over there with you way over here, eh?
@5
Ummm, no, it’s not strange at all. Will also posts here.
Thank you for calling attention to Marc Emery’s plight. It is a travesty what our government is trying to do here; I only hope that Canada sticks up for him and doesn’t do th extradition.
May I refer you to a blog I wrote about Marc Emery two years ago?
Hmmm, html doesn’t seem to be working on your site. Try this:
http://homesteadbook.com/blog/?p=72
@1
WTF!?!
I went through the various threads and found nothing of which you are complaining about. Will DID refer to the buses as being “slow and unpleasant” but I found no direct or even relatively indirect insults to you. Apparently you find difficulty in that others are not buying your “All you need is more Buses!” come to Jesus mindless pap.
To be clear for you since you obviously are not just thin skinned but “slow and unpleasant”, More Buses is not a solution! We have been trying that route for the last 30-40 years and what ends up happening is that we have two lanes downtown filled with buses waiting to pickup/drop off people, move a block and then pickup/drop off people going each direction. Not to mention that the other streets have the same for one lane completely blocked off.
Light Rail will remove the necessity of the buses dominating traffic downtown. Freeing them up to service suburban areas. Apparently you, Douglas Tooley, are too dense to have that sink through your skull.
The answer isn’t to just throw more vehicles on the already overcrowded roads. It is to have an integrated system that frees up space.
“In her bizarre press release of July 29, DEA chief Karen Tandy left little doubt as to why they singled out Emery’s operation. ‘Today’s DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group — is a significant blow … to … the marijuana legalization movement,’ it begins, adding: ‘ … Emery’s … profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.'”
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/25934/
This is a crime? I guess it is in Bushworld.
But then, so is being against WAR and TORTURE and CORRUPTION.
Let me get this straight. A Canadian citizen advocates in Canada for legalization of pot in Canada, so the DEA arrests him in Canada and wants to extradite him to the U.S. to stand trial in a U.S. court so they can send him to a U.S. prison ….
Back in 1812, when the English attempted this sort of thing, we declared war.
If they manage to nail Emery, look for a fleet of black Suburbans full of federales to descend on next year’s Hempfest.
Of course, Bush has wanted a war with Canada all along. They have oil. That’s why he’s massing amtracks and Marines on the northern border of Minnesota. It’s going to be the biggest amphibious operation since Okinawa.
@1 We.Don’t.Apologize.
Any questions?
@1…Tooley…
I assume you’re referring to the short-hand obscenity Will directed toward you over at Crosscut.
Rabbit is correct technically, though challenged socially: HA types don’t apologize; they think it’s their God-given right to figuratively foul the blogosphere foot paths with scatalogical utterings. They regard a sexual or scatological insult as being akin to wit.
Samuel Johnson would not be impressed…
Oh…BTW…Rabbit…
Many, many years ago, the CIA did a study of what to do should Canada ever break up causing individual provinces to petition the U.S. for entry into the union as states. The study concluded that B.C., Alberta, and maybe Saskatchewan (as I recall) could be accepted, but no way to the rest, and especially no way to the Maritime Provinces, which were then pathetic and a huge drain on the Canadian federal treasury.
Rumor had it that Quebec would have been mailed back to France…postage due, and Ontario would have had to fend for itself, perhaps asking Britain to allow it to revert back to colonial status.
As to the guy at issue? If mailing dope seeds to the U.S. is a criminal act, and if there’s evidence that he did it in substantial quanities over periods of time, then what’s the big deal about him being extradited? If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
The Piper
@16 “they think it’s their God-given right to figuratively foul the blogosphere foot paths with scatalogical utterings”
Nope, we’re just imitating you guys; and if apologies should be made, we think you guys should go first since you started it.
@16 (continued) A Republican complaining about “scatalogical utterings” is like the Devil complaining about sin.
@16 Exactly how do you mail MJ seeds to the U.S. without going through the Canadian postal system? If a crime against the mails was committed, shouldn’t the Canadians prosecute him? And if Canada refuses to prosecute a Canadian citizen for depositing contraband into a Canadian mailbox, why should the U.S. get involved? Emery didn’t send any MJ seeds into the U.S.; the Canadian post office did. If the DEA is going to extradite someone, they should extradite the Canadian postal system.
@16
As to the guy at issue? If mailing dope seeds to the U.S. is a criminal act, and if there’s evidence that he did it in substantial quanities over periods of time, then what’s the big deal about him being extradited? If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
The big deal is that the government should have no business regulating morality to the extent that they do. And because they do, they waste billions of those taxpayer dollars that you’re constantly crying about in order to stop a market that can never be stopped. And if you had the first clue about liberty, what it really means, or what the government’s role can and should be concerning it, you’d understand these things.
Personally, I think this is merely an excuse to invade Canada for their oil.
@20 An even bigger deal is our government should let Canada deal with Canadians committing crimes in Canada.
@22
Yeah, that too. :)
@21…RR…
Not for oil, for Macintosh’s Toffee and Canadian chub bologna.
The Piper
@22…RR…
It’s not at all unusal for the U.S. to charge or indict those who commit acts in foreign countries that result in criminal activity in the United States.
Osama bin Laden, who’s never set foot in the U.S., is currently wanted by the FBI on a whole host of charges. Go here to see his listing on the 10-Most Wanted list: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terr.....nladen.htm
Should we let whatever country he happened to be in at the time prosecute him?
And, Lee, you can argue the morality of drug laws all you want…with some merit, BTW…but as long as they’re still a part of the criminal law, you violate them at your own peril.
The Piper
@25
Welll …
Bush has violated a number of laws, should he be at peril too?
and before you ask which laws, even a lapsed attorney ought to be able to figure that out for himself.
Pot shouldn’t be illegal at all. It was made illegal to prop-up the bureacracy that became obsolete when prohibition ended. Had to figure out something to do with all to alcohol enforcement guys! Why not sick them on people who like to catch a little buzz on Friday nights?
It’s time to realize that people like to indulge in pot like they indulge in alcohol. It’s a way to relax and enjoy at least a little bit of life. It’s bad enough that we’ve got an oppressive government that can’t stay out of foreign adventures and wants to control every aspect of our lives without at least having a bit of enjoyment now and again. I say legalize pot now and be adult about it. Time to finally end prohibition!
My defense would be it is not marijuana, only a seed. Just like an abortion is not murder. They would have to let you go. End of story.
They ought to legalize it, tax it, and use 100 percent of the proceeds for healthcare.
@25
And, Lee, you can argue the morality of drug laws all you want…with some merit, BTW…but as long as they’re still a part of the criminal law, you violate them at your own peril.
No shit, but you demonstrate the immorality of those laws by looking at the Marc Emery’s.
Just a reminder to everyone that is suggesting legalization.
British Columbia already has de facto, but not de jure legalization. I’m certain you could get busted in Vancouver for simple possession, but I have no idea how flagrant and obnoxious you would have to be for that to actually happen.
Distribution and manufacture are punished with fines, not prison.
There is one reason the law stays in this gray area. That is the United States. I am 100% certain a phone call or two has been made that if marijuana becomes legalized in BC (or anywhere else North of 49) every single shipment of timber, coal, wheat, auto parts, Blackberries, etc. coming out of Canada will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb. The consequences for the rest of Canadian industry would be disastrous.
The direct effect of a large business being illegal is that marijuana isn’t just for hippies any more. There has been a bloody gang war being waged in Vancouver over the past several years, especially this summer over the spoils of the drug trade.
As for busting Marc Emery, this is more silliness. He’s easy to get. He’s high-profile, he’s outspoken, and he’s unarmed.
The people who should be extradited to the States are the gangsters who are running the violent side of the pot trade. Unfortunately, that won’t happen.
They shoot back.
mark @ 28:
1) The law is fairly clear that all products from cannabis plants are contraband. Seeds, stems, etc.
2) If your wet dream comes true and abortion becomes illegal, the result is that people who are of means and can travel to somewhere that it’s still legal will still be able to get abortions, while poor people who can’t won’t. No wonder the Conservatives hammer on this. It’s another way that the rich can do as they please while the poor have to lie back and take it.
@32 true nuff, MJ stuff is illegal, but THC stuff is legal.
Every friggin quality chocolate bar contains THC. .. or so I am told.
For that matter, I’spect that a little gentic engineering could improve the THC content of most TEA.
Imagine the guv tryin to outlaw Darjeeling!