Free Marc Emery

Let's Bring Marc Home!
    • 24
    Oct

    Opposition MPs To Hold Press Conference on Parliament Hill with Wife of Imprisoned Marijuana Activist Marc Emery

    submitted by on October 24, 2013

    marcemeryottawaCANNABIS CULTURE – New Democratic Party, Liberal and Green Party Members of Parliament will hold a joint press conference on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill with Jodie Emery, wife of imprisoned marijuana activist Marc Emery, to call on the Conservative government to approve Marc’s transfer home to serve the remainder of his prison sentence in Canada.

    NDP Deputy Leader Libby Davies, Liberal Public Safety Critic Wayne Easter and Green MP Elizabeth May will join with Jodie Emery on Tuesday, October 29 at 10:30AM (130 S Centre Block – Charles Lynch Room) to publicly ask the government for Marc Emery’s return to Canada.

    Marc Emery, a Canadian businessman and activist, was extradited to the US in 2010 and imprisoned for a five-year sentence for selling millions of dollars worth of marijuana seeds and using all the profits to fund marijuana legalization activism.

    Though the US government has approved Marc’s transfer to serve the remaining part of his sentence in Canada, Conservative Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has not yet signed the paperwork or spoken publicly about the issue.

    “It’s been extremely difficult for me to have my husband imprisoned so far away,” Jodie Emery said. “I hope Minister Blaney will spare us further suffering by letting Marc serve the remainder of his sentence closer to me at home in Canada.”

    Supporters are encouraged to rally outside Parliament at 10AM EST to peacefully demonstrate and show solidarity with the imprisoned activist.

    Jodie is asking for Canadians to phone blitz the Public Safety Minister’s office by calling throughout the day on October 29 to represent the support of citizens across the country who aren’t able to make it to Ottawa.

    The event will be broadcast LIVE online at Pot TV and Cannabis Culture so supporters and fans are welcome to watch the campaign unfolding live in real-time, and to phone the Public Safety Minister’s office during the press conference and Pot TV broadcast.

    How Supporters Can Help Make This a Successful Event

    1) PHONE BLITZ:
    During the press conference, Canadians are encouraged to call the Public Safety Minister’s office throughout the day, so they can represent the support of citizens across the country who aren’t able to make it to Ottawa. The phone blitz will hopefully keep the Minister’s office busy during the course of the press conference and into the afternoon. CLICK HERE for the contact information for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, along with basic facts about Marc’s case – and please remember to always be polite!

    2) POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS:
    Jodie is also presenting a formal letter signed by elected representatives asking for approval of Marc’s transfer home. CLICK HERE to download the letter to forward to any compassionate politicians who might sign it, and forward to Jodie by email (jodieemery@gmail.com)

    3) PETITION SIGNATURES:
    Jodie plans on presenting petitions signed by Canadians who want Marc home. CLICK HERE to download the petition, collect as many signatures as possible, and forward to Jodie through email.

    4) ATTEND PARLIAMENT:
    Supporters in Ottawa who want to peacefully demonstrate for Marc’s transfer home are encouraged to gather peacefully outside Parliament during the press conference, from 10AM to 11AM.

    10
    Sep

    DEA Admitted Marc Emery’s Arrest Was Political

    submitted by on September 10, 2011
    Tags: , , , , ,


    The US Drug Enforcement Administration admitted on the day of Marc Emery’s arrest (July 29th, 2005) that his investigation and extradition were politically motivated, designed to target the Marijuana Legalization organization that Emery spearheaded and ran for over a decade in Canada.

    Here is the original text of DEA Administrator Karen Tandy’s statement released on July 29th, 2005:

    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 not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement.

    His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.

    Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General’s most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets — one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.

    Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery’s illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.

    _____________________________

     

    Large JPG image of Karen Tandy Statement: here

     

     

     

    —————————–

     

    In addition to the DEA press release, see these DEA documents (shared in Marc’s blog – click here to read) that admit Marc’s money all went to political activism efforts:
    Over a year ago, after getting the transfer application rejected, one of my lawyers put in a Freedom of Information request about me to the DEA, FBI, Department of State, Bureau of Prisons, and other U.S. federal agencies. The FBI claimed not to have any file on me, others sent minor paperwork, and the DEA stalled – claiming that with so many email accounts and servers to go through, they couldn’t afford the time to do it! But finally, some the DEA files were handed over; heavily redacted too, of course.

    Some of the most interesting information is that the DEA confirmed that I gave over $2,000,000 to activists, activist groups, political parties, rallies, events, court challenges, and verified that over $753,000 of it was sent by Western Union wire. (I actually gave just under $4,500,000 in cash, check, money order, credit card and western union to those causes and people from 1995 to 2005, but the DEA apparently could only ascertain $2,000,000 of it, from 1999 to 2004.)

    Here are the excerpts from the DEA release:
    [Click the images to view the full pages]

    —-
    PAGE 14:

    In a recent Editor’s Page piece, EMERY and assistant editor Giesz-Ramsay boast that “my [EMERY’s] organizations (including CC) have contributed over $2,000,000 toward court battles, ballot initiatives, jailed individuals, rallies, conferences, marches and elections – all involving cannabis or the drug war.”

    It goes on to state, “There is virtually no drug reform group or organization in North America that has not received some assistance from us.”

    These sentiments are confirmed by the investigation conducted by the San Francisco FD into the numerous Western Union wire transfers initiated by Marc EMERY to many marijuana political activists around the world.
    —-

     

     

    —-
    PAGE 18:

    The San Francisco Field Division, in coordination with the Blaine Resident Office is investigating Marc EMERY. At the request of Blaine RO, SFFD has conducted an analysis of Western Union wire transfers sent by EMERY for the period 5 April 1999 until 5 April 2004.

    In total, $753,712.14 was transferred by EMERY through Western Union Financial Services. The financial analysis revealed that EMERY distributed this money to candidates for elections in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.

    This Report of Investigation details the significant websites and email accounts documented in cables DTG: 102055Z June 2005 and DTG: 102110Z June 2005.
    —-

     

    So there you have it. Although I have claimed all along to have donated millions of dollars (all my seed profits) to activist efforts in those ten years I was a seed seller – because that was the point of the seed business – it’s still nice to have the DEA confirm this. And out of the San Francisco Field Office of DEA, at that.

     

    09
    Sep

    Bring Marc Emery Home! Phone Call Campaign: Tuesday September 10

    submitted by on September 9, 2013

    Marc-CannabisFlagThe United States approved Marc’s prison transfer request to finish his sentence in Canada, but the Canadian Public Safety Minister, Steven Blaney, has not approved Marc’s application yet! There is no deadline for a response, so we need supporters to politely and constantly ask the Minister to sign Marc’s transfer forms.

    Marc was ordered extradited to the United States in May 2010 by the Conservative Government of Canada, and detained to await sentencing in a Seattle federal court on September 10th, where he was given a five-year prison term for selling marijuana seeds and funding political activism campaigns.

    For that reason, we’re choosing Tuesday, September 10th as a “Phone Call Campaign” to encourage Minister Blaney to approve Marc’s request to come home. Please be polite when calling the four phone numbers listed for Public Saftey Minister and Member of Parliament Steven Blaney (pronounced “blay-nee”). It could be useful to have some of the basic facts about Marc, which have been posted here at the FreeMarc.ca website.

    PHONE NUMBERS TO CALL:

    613-992-7434 (Parliament Hill office)
    418-830-0500 (Constituency Office #1)
    418-625-2626 (Constituency Office #2)
    613-944-4875 or 1-800-830-3118 (Public Safety Ministry office)

    You can read aloud the following (either to the secretary who will answer the phone, or to the voice mail recording) or you can say something similar, based on how you feel about what has happened to Marc – but please remember to always be polite! And if you ask for an official response (which will require you leave your contact information) the office staff will have to use time and resources to reply, so they might be more inclined to tell the Minister to approve Marc’s transfer so they can get back to their normal workload!

    “I’m calling to leave a message with Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney. I am requesting that he approve the prison transfer request of Canadian Marc Emery, who has been imprisoned in the United States since 2010. The Minister has had Marc Emery’s transfer application paperwork since earlier this year, and the United States’ federal government has already approved Marc’s request. Please make sure that the Minister knows that I, and many others, want Marc Emery brought home to Canada as soon as possible so he can finish his prison sentence closer to his wife, friends, and family.”

    Faxes and letters are also useful, as they are physical copies of paper that the Minister is supposed to receive and review. Please remember to keep your message very short and simple so that it’s more likely to be read. You can also ask for a response by phone, email, fax or letter, but be sure to include your contact information.

    FAX NUMBERS:

    418-830-0504
    418-625-4663
    613-995-6856

    Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety
    House of Commons
    Ottawa, ON
    K1A 0A6
    Canada
    (Note: no postage required for mail to the House of Commons)

    Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety
    115 President Kennedy Road, Suite 101
    Lévis, Québec
    G6V 6C8
    Canada

    Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety
    1516-D Route 277
    Lac-Etchemin, Québec
    G0R 1S0
    Canada

    Email: steven.blaney@parl.gc.ca Member of Parliament website

    When Will Marc Be Free From Prison?

    To read Marc’s prison blog about being approved for transfer by the United States government – including details about when he could be home and how the process might unfold – please click here to read it at CannabisCulture.com.

    27
    Jul

    Canada: Bring Marc Emery Home!

    submitted by on July 27, 2013
    Tags: , , , , ,

    Marc Emery’s application to be transferred home to Canada for the remainder of his prison sentence was approved by the United States Department of Justice!

    Now we need the Canadian Public Safety Minister to review and approve his application, too. Please encourage Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney to approve Marc’s request to come home!

    HOW TO HELP

    Please phone the Public Safety Minister’s office and politely request that Canadian citizen Marc Emery be approved for transfer home to Canada from the United States, now that the U.S. Justice Department has approved his request to leave their prison system and finish his sentence at home in Canada. Click here for the Public Safety Minister contact page

    Telephone
    (613) 944-4875
    1-800-830-3118

    Fax
    (613) 954-5186

    Letters are also encouraged, and should request an official response from the Minister with respect to Marc’s transfer application. (Postage not required within Canada)


    Minister of Public Safety

    House of Commons

    Ottawa, ON

    K1A 0A6

    Canada

    Please also contact the Minister’s various Member of Parliament offices, so he receives numerous messages, regardless of where he is working:

    Hill Office
    House of Commons
    Ottawa, Ontario
    K1A 0A6
    Telephone: 613-992-7434
    Fax: 613-995-6856
    EMail: steven.blaney@parl.gc.ca

     

    Constituency Office(s)
    115 President Kennedy Road, Suite 101 (Main Office)
    Lévis, Québec
    G6V 6C8
    Telephone: 418-830-0500
    Fax: 418-830-0504

     

    1516-D Route 277
    Lac-Etchemin, Québec
    G0R 1S0
    Telephone: 418-625-2626
    Fax: 418-625-4663 

    FACTS ABOUT MARC EMERY

    For some points to include in your phone call or letter, please review the facts of Marc and his case below, and more on this page (click here).

    • Marc Emery is a Canadian citizen who never went to the USA as a seed seller.

    • Marc Emery operated his seed business in Canada at all times, with no American branches or employees.

    • Marc Emery declared his income from marijuana seed sales on his income tax, and paid over $580,000 to the Federal and Provincial governments from 1999 to 2005 (when he was arrested and the seed business shut down).

    • Marc Emery is the leader of the British Columbia Marijuana Party, a registered political party that has regularly participated in elections.

    • Marc Emery has never been arrested or convicted of manufacturing or distributing marijuana in Canada, as he only sold seeds.

    • Marc Emery gave away all of the profits from his seed business – millions of dollars – to drug law reform lobbyists, political parties, global protests and rallies, court litigation, medical marijuana initiatives, drug rehabilitation clinics, and other legitimate legal activities and organizations in Canada, the United States, and countries worldwide.

    • Marc Emery helped found the United States Marijuana Party, state-level political parties, and international political parties in countries such as Israel and New Zealand.

    • Marc Emery has been known as a book seller and activist in Canada for 30 years, fighting against censorship laws and other social issues long before he became a drug law reform activist.

    • Marc Emery has been a media figure for 20 years with regards to marijuana and drug law reform. He is very well-known to Canadian, American and international news media organizations.

    • Marc Emery operated his business in full transparency and honesty since its inception in 1994, even sending his marijuana seed catalogue inside his magazine “Cannabis Culture” to each Member of Parliament in Canada every two months for years.


    What did Marc do?
    Marc openly ran “Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds” from a store in downtown Vancouver and through mail-order from 1994 to 2005, with the goal to fund anti-prohibition and pro-marijuana activists and organizations across North America and the world.
    Marc always paid all provincial and federal taxes on his income and made no secret to anyone of his seed-selling business. Marc was raided by police for selling seeds and bongs in 1996 and again in 1997 and 1998, but despite the seizure of his stock by police, the Canadian courts sentenced Emery only to fines and no jail time.
    Canadian police then pressured the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to launch a cross-border attack against Marc. They arranged to have him charged under America’s much more severe laws against seeds.
    Marc was arrested in Canada by American agents in 2005, and originally faced a minimum 30-year sentence in the US, with the possibility of life behind bars. After years of legal efforts, and ensuring his two co-accused received no prison time, Marc made a plea-bargain for a five-year sentence in the US. Marc had originally secured a deal with US officials to serve his five-year sentence in Canada, but the Conservative Government of Canada refused to allow this, and forced him to be extradited to the US.
    POLITICAL PRISONER
    The US Drug Enforcement Administration admitted on the day of Marc Emery’s arrest that his investigation and extradition were politically motivated, designed to target the marijuana legalization efforts and organizations that Emery spearheaded and financed for over a decade.Here is the original text of DEA Administrator Karen Tandy’s statement released on July 29th, 2005 (also available in its original letterhead form by clicking here):“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 not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement.

    His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.

    Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General’s most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets — one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.

    Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery’s illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.”

    On May 10th, 2010, Marc was ordered extradited by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson. He was taken to the USA on May 20th, 2010 and has been serving his sentence in a private for-profit prison in Georgia from late 2010 to April 2011. He was moved to Yazoo City medium security federal prison in Mississippi in April 2011 and has been detained there since.

    06
    Jun

    Help Get Marc Emery Home!

    submitted by on June 6, 2013

    Marc has made his formal application to be transferred home to Canada for the remainder of his prison sentence. The United States Department of Justice is due to make a decision at any time; if they approve Marc’s request, the Canadian Public Safety Minister must then review his application, too. Please encourage both countries to approve Marc’s request to come home!

    1) Contact the USA!
    Please send a polite letter to the US Department of Justice transfer division, requesting that Canadian citizen Marc Emery be approved for transfer home to Canada from the United States federal prison system.

    Paula A. Wolff, Chief

    U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division
    
OEO, International Prisoner Transfer Program

    JCK Building, 10th Floor
    
Washington, DC
    20530

    Telephone:  (202) 514-3173
    Fax:  (202) 514-9003
    2) Contact Canada!
    Please send a polite letter to the Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, requesting that Canadian citizen Marc Emery be approved for transfer home to Canada from the United States federal prison system. Contact:

    (Postage not required within Canada)

    Minister of Public Safety

    House of Commons

    Ottawa, ON

    K1A 0A6

    Canada
    Telephone: (613) 944-4875 or 1-800-830-3118
    Fax: (613) 954-5186

    For some points to include in your letter, please review the facts of Marc and his case:

    FACTS ABOUT MARC EMERY:

    • Marc Emery is a Canadian citizen who never went to the USA as a seed seller.

    • Marc Emery operated his seed business in Canada at all times, with no American branches or employees.

    • Marc Emery declared his income from marijuana seed sales on his income tax, and paid over $580,000 to the Federal and Provincial governments from 1999 to 2005.

    • Marc Emery is the leader of the British Columbia Marijuana Party, a registered political party that has regularly participated in elections.

    • Marc Emery has never been arrested or convicted of manufacturing or distributing marijuana in Canada, as he only sold seeds.

    • Marc Emery gave away all of the profits from his seed business to drug law reform lobbyists, political parties, global protests and rallies, court litigation, medical marijuana initiatives, drug rehabilitation clinics, and other legitimate legal activities and organizations.

    • Marc Emery helped found the United States Marijuana Party, state-level political parties, and international political parties in countries such as Israel and New Zealand.

    • Marc Emery has been known as a book seller and activist in Canada for 30 years, fighting against censorship laws and other social issues long before he became a drug law reform activist.

    • Marc Emery has been a media figure for 20 years with regards to marijuana and drug law reform. He is very well-known to Canadian, American and international news media organizations.

    • Marc Emery operated his business in full transparency and honesty since its inception in 1994, even sending his marijuana seed catalogue inside his magazine “Cannabis Culture” to each Member of Parliament in Canada every two months for years.

    What did Marc do? 
    Marc openly ran “Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds” from a store in downtown Vancouver and through mail-order from 1994 to 2005, with the goal to fund anti-prohibition and pro-marijuana activists and organizations across North America and the world.
    Marc always paid all provincial and federal taxes on his income and made no secret to anyone of his seed-selling business. Marc was raided by police for selling seeds and bongs in 1996 and again in 1997 and 1998, but despite the seizure of his stock by police, the Canadian courts sentenced Emery only to fines and no jail time.
    Canadian police then pressured the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to launch a cross-border attack against Marc. They arranged to have him charged under America’s much more severe laws against seeds.
    Marc was arrested in Canada by American agents in 2005, and originally faced a minimum 30-year sentence in the US, with the possibility of life behind bars. After years of legal efforts, and ensuring his two co-accused received no prison time, Marc made a plea-bargain for a five-year sentence in the US. Marc had originally secured a deal with US officials to serve his five-year sentence in Canada, but the Conservative Government of Canada refused to allow this, and forced him to be extradited to the US.
    The US Drug Enforcement Administration admitted on the day of Marc Emery’s arrest that his investigation and extradition were politically motivated, designed to target the marijuana legalization efforts and organizations that Emery spearheaded and financed for over a decade.Here is the original text of DEA Administrator Karen Tandy’s statement released on July 29th, 2005 (also available in its original letterhead form by clicking here):“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 not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement.His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General’s most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets — one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery’s illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.”

    On May 10th, 2010, Marc was ordered extradited by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson. He was taken to the USA on May 20th, 2010 and has been serving his sentence in a private for-profit prison in Georgia from late 2010 to April 2011. He was moved to Yazoo City medium security federal prison in Mississippi in April 2011 and has been detained there since.

    16
    May

    Prison Blog About the BC Election Held on Tuesday, May 14, 2013

    submitted by on May 16, 2013
    Tags: , , , , , ,

    Marc Emery BCMP The Toronto Maple Leafs' historic record as biggest losers in a single game lasted all of one day until the BC New Democratic Party took the title away from them in an even more breathtaking fashion.

    In a situation that must have deposed BC NDP leader Carole James smirking today, she – whom, according to the rebels like Jenny Kwan, Adrian Dix and others, couldn't win an election in BC (despite taking the BC NDP from 2 seats in 2001 to 40 seats in 2009) – won her seat while the BC NDP collapsed spectacularly in unprecedented way.

    The NDP was 20 points ahead of the Liberals only six weeks ago. Twenty points! And yet, after election night last night, the NDP was five percentage points behind, and 17 seats behind, a collapse of 25% of the electorate. The Liberals had 45 seats to the NDP's 40 seats before the May 14 vote. Now it's 50 Liberals – and of course, this is really the Socred alliance, as the Conservative vote collapsed and fell in line behind the BC Liberals, whose candidates by and large are even more conservative (in the bad way) than the new BC Conservative party.

    Current BC NDP leader Adrian Dix has to be the most uninspiring, charisma lacking, vacant 'leader' ever, and offered up nothing to the voters of BC that could inspire confidence. No policies, no platform, no campaign. "Just let the Liberals implode" was the whole BC NDP campaign. Astonishing arrogance, such hubris!

    The BC Greens have a new leader and their first Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in climate scientist Andrew Weaver, elected in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, a riding that overlaps federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May's Saanich-Gulf Islands riding. This is great news for the BC Greens, who have been declining in popularity since the 2001 election campaign when they received more than 12% of the BC vote. It dropped to 9% in 2005, then 8% in 2009 and 8% in 2013 under Jane Sterk's unfortunately inadequate (and largely invisible) leadership.

    The BC Greens could have had a higher percentage but for an unexplainable decision not to run candidates in every BC riding. Huge gaps across the province, in areas like the two ridings in my wife's hometown Kamloops, did not have a Green candidate – which left a lot of people disappointed. Had the Greens run in all 85 ridings, I believe the total would have exceeded 10% of the total provincial vote. Hopefully in the next election, four years from now, the BC Greens will have a candidate in every riding.

    Jodie Emery BC Green Party 2013I am particularly proud of my wife Jodie and her campaign in Vancouver-West End as the BC Green candidate. Despite so much going on in her regular life, Jodie campaigned every day for the final 15 days of the campaign with a shoestring budget of her own money, and received 1,897 votes for 11.1% of the riding total. (Absentee ballots will be counted in the next two weeks and then added to all candidates' vote totals across BC.) That was an increase over the previous 9% result for the riding, and a doubling of her own personal total of 904 votes in the 2009 BC election campaign as the BC Green candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview.

    The BC Green Party under Jane Sterk's 'leadership' failed to marshal any resources for anything resembling a worthy campaign province-wide, and left all of the candidates outside of four in southern Vancouver Island to fend for themselves. Sterk will resign in the days ahead, an inevitability after going nowhere with the party in five frustratingly ineffective years in charge of the BC Green franchise, and Andrew Weaver will be de facto BC Green Party leader. He'll have the prestige of being a veritable Nobel prize-winning climate change scientist and now MLA for the next four years, and in that time I hope he'll inspire the next wave of BC Green candidates for the May 2017 election. (In fairness to Jane Sterk, the first Green MLA in BC has been elected under her party leadership, but there isn't any other accomplishment to note.)

    The BC Greens are far more progressive on almost every issue than the BC NDP, who are still the proxy for organized labour unions. As to the BC Liberals, leader Christy Clark proved that chutzpah can win elections. She lost her own seat to BC Civil Liberties Association lawyer and NDP candidate David Eby, so some poor sap of a Liberal MLA will have to give up their safe Liberal seat so Clark can parachute into it and get a seat in the Legislature. Some lucrative government appointment awaits some lucky BC Liberal MLA!

    Clark won by standing up for something while the BC NDP seemed to stand for nothing. The Liberals hammered the NDP for its apparent policy-less drift, and the accusation resonated with voters. Premier Christy Clark has done the Boston Bruins one better, no doubt – a political come-from-behind that I doubt is equaled in any province over the last 30 years. It's a shame that her government is filled with regressive troglodytes like Mary Polok, Rich Coleman, RCMP-kissy-face Daryl Plecas, and numerous others.

    But the Liberals also now have former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, who (if he resists being whipped into line by Premier Clark) actually believes in legalization and ending prohibition. And the drug policy reform movement has another hope in newly-elected BC NDP MLA David Eby, but both of these two parties are so controlled by (largely inept and corrupt) leadership that I doubt we'll ever hear Sullivan or Eby seriously ever criticize the police or prohibition ever again, and certainly not while in the legislature. As former Liberal MLA Kash Heed showed, and current NDP MLA Nicholas Simons reminded us, the Legislature is where anti-prohibitionists go to "shut up and never be heard from again" in any meaningful and relevant way.

    Thankfully, this was the last election in the USA or Canada that I'll ever be absent from participating in as a result of my current exile. I'm excited to be Jodie's campaign manager if she seeks to run in Canada's 2015 federal election as the Green Party candidate for Vancouver Center, which includes all of the provincial riding Vancouver-West End where she ran in this time. We'll raise serious money to do an effective election campaign with mail-outs, phone banking, advertising, more buttons and signs, and an organized volunteer campaign. Jodie and I have worked together for our entire relationship as a "campaigning couple", and she did her best in this election while I've been imprisoned so far away, but I know we're both eager for my return home so we can campaign as a team again.

     

    16
    May

    The Jodie Emery Show – May 9, 2013

    submitted by on
    Tags: ,

    The BC provincial election is only a few days away and Jodie has been busy campaigning with the help of many volunteers in her riding of Vancouver-West End. She encourages everyone to get out and VOTE GREEN ON MAY 14! Visit Jodie's campaign page at http://JodieForMLA.ca

    It will be three years ago on May 10 that Marc was surrendered for extradition. He now has 425 days left of his U.S. prison sentence. The paperwork has been filed with the US Justice Dept. requesting his transfer back to Canada. If you'd like to write to Marc, visit http://www.FreeMarc.ca for the details — he'd love to hear from you.

    Jodie was in Vancouver for the Global Marijuana March held on May 4 and she tells us all about it. Look for pics and videos of the event at http://www.Pot.TV and http://www.CannabisCulture.com

    Jodie and CC Editor Jeremiah Vandermeer will be off to Toronto to attend the Treating Yourself Expo on May 24, 25 & 26. Cannabis Culture Headquarters will have a booth and Jeremiah will be broadcasting live on http://Pot.TV

    For info about the TY Expo go to http://treatingyourselfexpo.com

    Shop online at http://www.CannabisCulture.com/store or visit the world-famous Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters store at 307 West Hastings Street in Vancouver. We're open 7 days a week. "We've got everything you need but the weed!"

    Stay informed, stay involved at:
    http://www.CannabisCulture.com
    http://www.Facebook.com/PrinceOfPot
    http://www.Facebook.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Facebook.com/MarcEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/MarcScottEmery

    16
    May

    The Jodie Emery Show – May 2, 2013

    submitted by on
    Tags: ,

    Marc's transfer paperwork is in Washington D.C., and he has 432 days left on his prison sentence. With approval of the transfer back to Canada, his time could be cut by 6 months, so we all are hoping for the best. Marc's blog about his prison band Yazoo got an article in the Vancouver Metro newspaper – see it here: http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/65…

    Jodie also hit the papers with her letter to the editor having been published in both of our major newspapers in BC, The Vancouver Sun and The Province. The letter was in response to an article about police and "drug impaired driving", and Jodie's explanation about how impairment is proven by performance. She reads the letter to us.

    There's so much is happening with Jodie's election campaign, running in the British Columbia provincial election, as the BC Green Party candidate in Vancouver-West End. We all went out to hold up signs today (and many days!) and Jodie's been taking part in events and debates and media interviews. You can see all of that and more at her web page http://www.JodieForMLA.ca

    Saturday May 4, 2013 is The Global Marijuana March. Here in Vancouver we will gather at the Art Gallery at High Noon and the march starts at 2:00 p.m. Where ever you are, try to get and show your support for changing the cannabis laws. Check out all of the worldwide news coverage on the Global Marijuana March at http://www.CannabisCulture.com and http://www.Pot.tv

    Shop online at http://www.CannabisCulture.com/store or visit the world-famous Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters store at 307 West Hastings Street in Vancouver. We're open 7 days a week.

    "We've got everything you need except the weed!"

    Stay informed, stay involved at:
    http://www.CannabisCulture.com
    http://www.Facebook.com/PrinceOfPot
    http://www.Facebook.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Facebook.com/MarcEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/MarcScottEmery

    Watch thousands of hours of Pot TV at: http://www.pot.tv.

    16
    May

    The Jodie Emery Show – April 26, 2013

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    We're a day late with the show, but much is happening in Jodie's busy life. She's got great new photos of Marc with his band mates in the studio to share and Marc's new blog is up at http://freemarc.ca/.

    420 here in Vancouver was a massive success with probably 30,000 supporters in attendance at the Art Gallery. We had a full line up of music, circus performers and speakers all day with a huge celbration at 4:20. Look for photos from Jeremiah at http://www.CannabisCulture.com/ and videos coming at http://www.pot.tv.

    Vice Magazine has finished their documentary about pot on the west coast and our Cannabis Culture is featured with Jodie, David Malmo-Levine and Dana Larsen all being interviewed. You can see that at http://www.CannabisCulture.com/.

    Jodie continues to be very busy with her election campaign. Last night she attended an all candidates debate and she tells us all about it. You can visit her page at: http://jodieformla.ca/ to find out more and show your support. Vote Green May 14!

    Another winner is picked from the BubbleBag to will freemac prizes. To have your chance send an email to: jodie@cannabisculture.com.

    Shop online at http://www.CannabisCulture.com/store or visit the world-famous Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters store at 307 West Hastings Street in Vancouver. We're open 7 days a week.

    "We've got everything you need except the weed!"

    Stay informed, stay involved at:
    http://www.CannabisCulture.com
    http://www.Facebook.com/PrinceOfPot
    http://www.Facebook.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Facebook.com/MarcEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/MarcScottEmery

    01
    May

    Marc Continues his Band Performances in Yazoo Prison

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    Marc Emery prison band YazooI'm pleased to report that my previous blog, on the origins of 4/20 celebrations, appeared on the Huffington Post under my name. My 4/20 blog was online at CannabisCulture.com for three weeks in the run-up to the worldwide celebration on Saturday, April 20, which attracted a larger attendance and more media throughout North America than ever before.

    This blog was delayed for some weeks as a consequence. It's a much more personal piece about my rock and roll band here in an American federal prison, and goes with the new photos of me and my band in the prison music studio. The name of the band is Yazoo, and our most recent concert was on Saturday, March 16th. It was our 13th concert since our first performance on July 2nd, 2011. The show was done under gloriously sunny skies from 12:30pm to 3:00pm in the 'inner' rec yard, in temperatures of about 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23C) – a perfect day, and we all felt it was one of best concerts ever. This is our set list for that show:

    Boys Are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy)
    Last Resort (Papa Roach)
    Blues Deluxe (Joe Bonnamesa)
    Black Magic Woman (Santana)
    Crazy Train (Ozzy)
    Enter Sandman (Metallica)
    Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid (Led Zeppelin)
    Kryptonite (3 Doors Down)
    Green River (Credence Clearwater Revival)
    Texas Flood (Stevie Ray Vaughan)
    Running Down a Dream (Tom Petty)
    Come Together (Beatles)
    Plush (Stone Temple Pilots)
    Stormy Monday (Allman Brothers version)
    Jumpin Jack Flash (Rolling Stones)
    Sunshine of Your love (Cream)
    Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
    Pride & Joy (Stevie Ray)
    Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix)
    Voodoo Child (Jimi Hendrix)

    Marc prison band yazooIn early March, we were able to take photographs of our band performing in the band rehearsal room (the photos that accompany this blog). All the equipment in the music program, and all equipment or recreational items used by the inmates, are paid for by the inmates expenditures at the commissary (the inmate grocery store). After all costs of service and goods sold at the commissary are deducted, the profits of the inmate store are used to finance all recreational activities in the prison, including televisions, cable programming, all athletic equipment, music equipment, pool tables, exercise equipment, and so on.

    My band gets to use the band rehearsal room for 3-4 hours on Thursdays, and we practice in the rec area every day for 1-3 hours daily individually or in pairs. Our songs are done note-for-note like the originals, except we usually have a solo by Terry or Don, and then an outro solo by the other, so a number of our songs will have two solos (like Enter Sandman, Voodoo Child, Texas Flood, Running Down a Dream, and Stormy Monday). Most of the others are identical to the recorded version, except we develop an ending in the case of a recorded version that fades out.

    Our vocalist for most songs is Chap (Robert Chappell), whom you can see in the main band photo (at the top of this blog) singing 'Red House' (Jimi Hendrix) in the band rehearsal room. Chap is an excellent guitarist and a terrific bass player, much better than me, but fortunately (for me!) he is busy doing the vocal chores for the band, and plays the lead or rhythm guitar when Don sings.

    Doing back-up vocalist and playing rhythm/lead guitar is Don Salisbury, whom you can see singing in the photo to the right; in that instance he is singing 'Green River' by CCR. Don is working on hard on his singing and gets two to three songs to sing in each set. Usually though, Don alternates with guitarist Terry for rhythm (when Terry is playing lead) and lead (when Terry is playing rhythm). Don's forte is the blues guitar, and Don often reminds me of how Eric Clapton plays.

    Marc prison band YazooOur drummer, Jermaine Moss, known to all here as Sapp, is a remarkably talented drummer with great instincts. Unlike the rest of the band, who get to practice up to several hours a day on our instruments or voices outside of the studio, there is no drum practice opportunity so he gets only the two and a half hours weekly at our band rehearsal, and performance at our concert. Yet Sapp is so talented he can pick up an entire song by hearing it just once, or often having never heard the song, he intuitively understands where a song is supposed to go, and makes playing bass so much easier for me, as he cues me on each change in a song. Getting an action shot for Sapp was difficult, because the snare and kick drums are out of view, and only one shot out of several caught Sapp with the drum sticks in motion.

    Terry Griffith is our lead guitarist, but Terry is really the lead musician in the band. Terry is the most accomplished guitarist among three excellent guitarists, and the teacher to the others, as he has played for almost 30 years and understands scales and guitar theory the most. Terry played professionally in bands for about 15 years on the outside, most notably in a band called Rags & Bush Doctor, a Spokane-area band. Terry can play any kind of genre very well, and is also an outstanding bass player and composer of bass lines. When I have to come up with a bass line to a song, and no bass sheet music exists for it, Terry will listen to the song for 30 minutes and then be able to teach me how the bass lines go.

    Yazoo prison band While all the others have ten years to near 30 years experience as musicians, I have only 22 months experience on the bass. Prior to that I had never picked up an instrument in my life, nor did I think I had any talent to ever play an instrument. I may not have much talent really, but I have a very good memory and a real desire to play.

    I am thrilled every day to actually be in a band with musicians of this outstanding caliber. But their ability to quickly learn a song puts pressure on me to catch on quickly. So I have tended to sacrifice my theory education (major and minor scales, pentatonic scales, modes) in order to spend my time learning songs.

    Although I use a Carvin electric bass in the band rehearsal studio and in our outdoor concerts, I practice daily on these big unwieldy acoustic basses. I don't have the finger memory that Chap, Don and Terry have; when they play they rarely look at their guitars, they know where their fingers are and where they are going to. I can look away for a period of time on a simpler bass line, as in Running Down A Dream (Tom Petty), but something like Black Magic Woman, Stormy Monday, Texas Flood, Heartbreaker, etc., I cannot look away from the bass because I will not hit the correct fret with accuracy if I'm not looking.

    So that's why most photos of me are me staring at the bass. I know in performance you are supposed to look at the audience, but if I do that for any length of time, I will hit some sour notes – and boy, when you hit a wrong note, you can sure hear it! When anyone in the band hits a wrong note, or wrong chord, it's very noticeable to the other musicians.

    Our next concert is around the Memorial Day weekend, likely on Saturday, May 25th. We have added a considerable number of songs to our repertoire since our last show in March. I have been practicing about three hours a day and the increased practice time is paying off. Here is our set list for the Memorial Day show:

    Marc Emery prison band Yazoo1. Panama (Van Halen)
    2. Sharp Dressed Man (ZZ Top)
    3. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen (Santana)
    4. Enter Sandman (Metallica)
    5. Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid (Led Zeppelin)
    6. Peace of Mind (Boston)
    7. Last Resort (Papa Roach)
    8. White Wedding (Billy Idol)
    9. Blues Deluxe (Joe Bonnamesa)
    10. Your Disease (Saliva)
    11. Classical Gas (Mason Williams) solo by Terry
    12. Green River (Credence Clearwater Revival) Don on vocals/Chap on guitar
    13. Tuesday's Gone (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Don on vocals/Chap on guitar
    14. Only God Knows Why (Kid Rock) Don on vocals/Chap guitar
    15. Boys are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy)
    16. Come As You Are (Nirvana)
    17. You Really Got Me/Ain't Talking Bout Love (Van Halen medley)
    18. Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
    19. Texas Flood (Stevie Ray Vaughan)
    20. Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)
    21. Voodoo Child (Led Zeppelin)

    prison band Yazoo My band needs guitar tab books, which are collections of songs in sheet music that we can learn songs from, that we will later perform. If you, dear reader, would like to send a guitar or bass tab book from Amazon or any book store (as all materials must come from a store of some kind, since individuals cannot send anything personally by mail except letters and photos), please check out my Amazon.com wishlist.

    Any music tab books there that you care to send would be greatly appreciated. My future ambition is that the songs I learn to play here will be performed when I’m in a band at the BCMP Lounge, once I have returned home. And then you can see me play the bass in a rock and roll band that the free world will be able to hear!

    CLICK HERE for Marc's mailing address at FreeMarc.ca

     

    01
    May

    The Jodie Emery Show – April 18, 2013

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    It's almost April 20th – 4/20! We hope everyone has a safe and peaceful cannabis celebration and prohibition protest. With now only 446 days left on Marc's prison sentence, you can read about the origins of the April 20th rally in his blog at http://www.FreeMarc.ca and http://www.CannabisCulture.com – or click here: http://www.cannabisculture.com/blogs/…

    Check out http://www.420Vancouver.com for all of the info about Vancouver's huge event. You find pictures, videos band line-ups and much more. Watch the entire day broadcast live at Pot.tv on the day of the event at http://www.Pot.tv and http://www.CannabisCulture.com

    If you're not in Vancouver, go to http://ww.420rally.ca to find out what's happening in or near your town or city across Canada.

    Jodie tells us a bit about her quick one-day visit to Halifax, where she filmed a movie scene for the upcoming Trailer Park Boys 3 feature film – appearing as herself!

    Jodie's very busy with her election campaign for the provincial election coming up on May 14th. You can visit her page at http://www.JodieForMLA.ca to find out more and show your support.

    There's lots of media ahead with Jodie appearing on Global BC1 at 9:00am Friday, and then to CKNW for the Bill Good Show across BC at 11:00am, as well as doing more media with the Vancouver Observer and News 1130, getting her chance to spread our message about legalizing cannabis and our purpose for 420.

    Jodie chooses two more winners of a Free Marc t-shirt, stickers and a pin, along with a bonus prize! Get your name in the BubbleBag by sending an email to: jodie@cannabisculture.com.

    Shop online at http://www.CannabisCulture.com/store or visit the world-famous Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters store at 307 West Hastings Street in Vancouver. We're open 7 days a week. "We've got everything you need except the weed!"

    Stay informed, stay involved at:
    http://www.CannabisCulture.com
    http://www.Facebook.com/PrinceOfPot
    http://www.Facebook.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Facebook.com/MarcEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/JodieEmery
    http://www.Twitter.com/MarcScottEmery

    Watch thousands of hours of Pot TV at: http://www.pot.tv.

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