By: Jeremiah Vandermeer, Cannabis Culture

 

The 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.

 

Jeremiah Vandermeer is editor of Cannabis Culture. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

Postmedia News, Montreal Gazette

 

VANCOUVER — Supporters of jailed marijuana activist Marc Emery hosted a 24-hour fundraiser Saturday aimed at raising legal fees to push for his return to Canada.

 

By midday, the initial target of $8,500 had been raised.

 

Emery was sentenced to five years in a Seattle prison last month after being convicted of selling pot seeds by mail order and over the phone, which amounts to drug trafficking under U.S. law.

 

His supporters, including his wife Jodie Emery, have been rallying ever since to have him returned to Canada to serve his time here.

 

Jodie Emery told a Vancouver radio station Saturday that all the money her husband made from seed sales over the years has gone toward court challenges and other pro-pot crusades. She claimed he had just $11 in his bank account when he was locked up in mid-September.

 

Donate to Free Marc Emery – Marc Emery is currently in US prison and needs legal help to return to Canada!

 

Donate before midnight tonight, Saturday, October 16 to have your contribution included in the Marc Emery Moneybomb! Donations will be accepted until midnight October 16, and we’ll be updating our total raised hourly all day! All funds raised above the $8500.00 goal will go to Marc’s lawyer expenses and the Free Marc Campaign. Donate now!

 

 *WATCH OUR LIVE BROADCAST UNTIL MIDNIGHT!*

Here’s how to Donate:

 

 

 

 

The Hon. Vic Toews
Parliament Hill
Suite 306, House of Commons Justice Building
Ottawa, ON 
K1A 0A6
Canada

204-326-9889
613-992-3128
Toews.V@parl.gc.ca

Please also contact the US Department of Justice and ask them to approve Marc Emery’s transfer request to serve his time at home in Canada. Be polite and use the facts about Marc Emery to help you explain why he should be transferred.

U.S. Department of Justice
Criminal Division, Office of Enforcement Operations
International Prisoner Transfer Program
JCK Building, 12th Floor
Washington, DC
20530
USA

The US application requires more work, so that’s why Marc is hiring a US transfer specialist lawyer. She is highly recommended and gets the job done quickly and properly. Her excellent work comes at a cost of $8,500 – and that’s why we need your help!

The Marc Emery Legal Fundraiser Moneybomb is on Saturday, October 16th. We have already received some donations in advance ($1,000 in total as of October 2nd) and people are able to donate at any time. We’re putting all donation money aside for this lawyer and we’ll add it to the moneybomb on Saturday, October 16th!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do we need help paying legal fees?

People sometimes ask, “Marc Emery made millions of dollars selling seeds, so why are you asking for money?”

 

The answer is, Marc has no money, savings, assets, stocks, bonds, property, or anything of value. When he was arrested in 2005, he had $11 to his name. He didn’t sell the seeds to make a personal profit; the entire point of selling seeds was to make money for the movement, which he clearly stated on a regular basis and on his websites.

Since Marc began selling seeds in 1994, he never kept any of the money made – he has never cared about owning anything. Marc used all of the profits from the seed sales to finance the movement, which he was very well-known for doing. He gave over $4 million to activists groups, drug policy conferences, state ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana (including Colorado, Washington DC, and Arizona), class action lawsuits against the government, compassion club legal fees and start-up costs, opening hemp stores, worldwide rallies and marches (such as the Global Marijuana March every year, and the original April 20th “420” rally in Vancouver), drug policy organizations (including Marijuana Policy Project, NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, and more), political parties (such as the BC Marijuana Party, Canadian Marijuana Party, US Marijuana Party, and other state/provincial parties), media outlets (Cannabis Culture Magazine, Pot TV), drug rehabilitation clinics (the Ibogaine Therapy House), medical fees for cannabis patients, and so much more.

Even if Marc had kept the money, the police and DEA would have seized it all, so he never saved anything. The only people who claim Marc “made millions” are the DEA. But even the DEA knows that Marc has nothing of value, because he was not made to pay fees when sentenced to prison in the USA due to the fact that they know he has no money. In fact, Marc only has personal debt, mostly to Revenue Canada for owed income tax as he paid over $580,000 as a “marijuana seed vendor” from 1999 to 2005 and, after being busted, the interest on the $120,000 owed amount ballooned into nearly $300,000.

Additionally, Marc is not allowed to be employed while imprisoned, so he has no income whatsoever. His wife Jodie Emery owns and operates the “Cannabis Culture Headquarters” store, Cannabis Culture Magazine online, and Pot TV; only the store makes money. As such, we rely on supporters for help in paying the legal fees of our lawyers to help get Marc home.

Thankfully, Marc gave so much to the movement, inspired countless thousands to become activists, and helped thousands of people grow their own medicine, so there are many people who want to give back in his time of need. Thank you for the support!