By: Jeremiah Vandermeer, Cannabis CultureThe Free Marc Emery Legal Fundraiser Moneybomb was a smoking success – really smoking: supporters donated a total of $20420 and thousands tuned-in to our 24-hour LIVE continuous blazing session.
Marc Emery sold a heck of a lot of cannabis seeds and made a heck of a lot of money, nearly every penny of which was spent on efforts to legalize marijuana and bring change to drug policy in North America and internationally. This included the founding and publishing of Cannabis Culture Magazine and Pot-TV. Marc was raided and arrested by US and Canadian authorities in 2005 for his political efforts, extradited to the US, and sentenced to five years behind bars.
We here at CC miss The Prince of Pot very much, and are doing everything we can to bring him home to Canada. Unfortunately, with no seed company to generate much-need cash for legal fees, it was looking like Marc would not be able to afford the cost of hiring a lawyer to facilitate the Treaty Transfer process, which if successful would allow him to serve his (possibly reduced) time in Canada.
In early October we put out a call for financial support in the form of a one day Moneybomb, a concept used originally by Ron Paul supporters to raise money for his 2008 presidential campaign.
At midnight on October 16, with our LIVE webcam rolling at Cannabis Culture Headquarters in downtown Vancouver, the donations started to pour in. And man, did they ever pour in.
It was amazing. The phones were ringing off the hook. Credit card and electronic transfer accounts started to fill up.
The response at that early hour was more than we were expecting; then it got really busy. CC accounts manager Tia worked tirelessly all day and night adding numbers and giving us the tallies.
The live webcast was a blast. A lot of blasting, actually – blasting joint after bong rip after vapor bag continuously with a large group of friends and family. CC’s Advertising Manager Britney and I anchored the program, and there were many who dropped by to say hello to viewers through the thick cloud of sweet smoke, including former CC editor Dana Larsen, super-activist David Malmo-Levine, Marijuana Man, Jacob Hunter, Nicole Seguin, Bubbleman, The Weed Guy, members of the CCHQ and BCMP staff, and Jodie Emery via Skype connection.
Using the USTREAM video streaming service, we embedded our show into the front page of CC and on FreeMarc.ca. Thousands tuned in to peep the smokefest and hundreds logged in to chat directly with us via the Cannabis Culture USTREAM Page.
The totals grew as we gave the audience regular updates on reaching our desired goal of $8500. By 12 noon, only halfway into our webcast, we had already surpassed the goal by about $50 dollars. Over the rest of the day, the cash kept coming, and by the time the clock struck midnight we had received a whopping $20420. Talk about an explosion of support!
BIG HUGE thank-yous to those who donated their hard-earned dollars to help bring a Canadian hero home! Marc will now be able to afford the legal support he needs to get the Treaty Transfer paperwork signed and get the process started. All additional funds raised will go directly to Marc’s legal fees and the FREE MARC campaign.
The Moneybomb was a fiery example of the old adage that there’s power in numbers. Thanks to the contributions – some small and some large – of so many wonderful supporters, Marc has a real chance to come back to Canada and hopefully have his sentence reduced. We couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you.
If you wanted to donate to the Moneybomb but missed your chance, you can still donate to the FREE MARC campaign, our ongoing drive to spread information about Marc Emery and the fight to legalize cannabis. If you can’t afford to donate, please send a letter to Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews or your local MP, hold a sign on a busy street corner that says "Google Marc Emery", spread message online, or do one of the 75 things on this list.
Every action no matter how seemingly small makes a real difference.
For more information about Marc Emery, please keep visiting FreeMarc.ca.