Free Marc Emery

By: JEFF HODSON, Metro News Vancouver

 

Marijuana activist Marc Emery is expected to be sentenced in a Seattle court early Friday afternoon.

 

Emery has been held in a maximum-security pretrial facility since May 24 when he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. He is expected to receive five years in a federal prison, the term agreed upon in his plea bargain.

 

There is a possibility, explained Marc’s wife Jodie Emery, that the judge could award a sentence of more or less than five years — nullifying the plea agreement and opening the door for either the prosecution or defence to take Emery’s charge to trial.

 

“We’re hoping for the five-year sentence,” said Jodie Emery, who plans to join other supporters outside the courthouse at noon, prior to the 1:30 p.m. sentencing. “If he gets anything else, we’ll have to proceed to trial, that will guarantee a much longer sentence.”

 

Following sentencing, Emery’s lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, will begin the process to get Emery transferred to a Canadian prison by dropping off a treaty transfer application at the Canadian consulate.

 

Emery, meanwhile, cannot apply to leave the U.S. until he arrives at federal prison, a process that could take months, Jodie said.

 

By Cannabis Culture

 

CANNABIS CULTURE – Sentencing memorandums have been filed in the case of Canada’s ‘Prince of Pot’ Marc Emery, the marijuana activist who will be sentenced on Friday, September 10 in a US Federal courtroom for selling cannabis seeds.

 

Following are separate memorandums filed by US prosecutors and counsel for Marc Emery.

 

United States Sentencing Memorandum filed by the U.S. Justice Department (Jenny A. Durkan and Todd Greenberg) on August 31, 2010

 

 

The United States of America, by Jenny A. Durkan, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and Todd Greenberg, Assistant United States Attorney, hereby files this Sentencing Memorandum.

 

I. INTRODUCTION

 

Through the years, and in various contexts, Marc Emery has meant different things to many people. But in the context of this federal criminal prosecution, Emery stands before the Court as many others have before him – as an admitted drug dealer who has entered a plea of guilty to a large scale marijuana trafficking conspiracy. Emery was the largest distributor of marijuana seeds, and thus marijuana, into the United States from approximately 1995 through July 2005, when he was arrested in Canada on an American extradition warrant. The U.S. Department of Justice brought this prosecution because of, and to put an end to, Emery’s unlawful drug trafficking inside the United States. To help accomplish this, we respectfully recommend that the Court sentence Emery to serve a term of five years in prison.

 

II. SENTENCING GUIDELINES CALCULATIONS

 

The government concurs with the Sentencing Guidelines calculations set forth in the pre-sentence report. Specifically, the total offense level is 29, Emery falls within criminal history category I, and thus the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range calls for imprisonment for between 87 and 108 months.

 

III. UNITED STATES’ SENTENCING RECOMMENDATION

 

The parties entered into a plea agreement pursuant to Fed. Crim. P. Rule 11(c)(1)(C), stipulating to a sentence of incarceration for five years. The government respectfully recommends that the Court accept the plea agreement and impose a five-year sentence, which we submit is the appropriate sentence in this case.

 

Emery pleaded guilty to a serious federal drug crime that carries a statutory mandatory minimum term of five years in prison. A five-year sentence in this case would represent the longest sentence imposed in this District against a defendant who was convicted for participating in the supply chain to marijuana grow operators. During the past few years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted several defendants for knowingly supplying large quantities of grow equipment, seeds, plants, and/or other items to marijuana growers. None of those defendants yet have been sentenced to serve as long as five years in prison.

 

A five-year sentence in this case would appropriately reflect the enormous volume of marijuana seeds Emery shipped into the United States. In his plea agreement, Emery admitted to having sold more than 4,000,000 marijuana seeds for profits as high as $3,000,000 (CDN) annually. Approximately seventy-five percent of his customers were located in the United States. Emery guaranteed at least a fifty percent germination rate for his seeds, and this investigation confirmed that his seeds met or exceeded this mark.

 

Thus, Emery literally was responsible for supplying millions of marijuana plants to grow houses in the United States.

 

Emery’s seeds (and plants) were traced to marijuana grow houses in every region of the United States – from the West Coast (Washington, Oregon and California), to the Mountain West (Montana and North Dakota), to the Midwest (Indiana, Illinois and Michigan), to the South (Virginia and Tennessee), and to the East Coast (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut). Emery also sold all of the items necessary to grow marijuana, including specialized lights, fans, electric timers, pots, and soil. Emery distributed his marijuana seeds and grow equipment via mail and telephone orders to any and all customers, without regard for their ages or criminal associations. This Court is very familiar with the dangerous collateral criminal activities that too often surround marijuana grow operations, including armed robberies, shootings, and even murders. It is therefore not surprising that some of the grow houses Emery supplied with plants were also associated with firearms and booby traps.

 

From the Department of Justice’s perspective, the focus of this case always has been, and should remain, on Emery’s long term and repeated violations of the U.S. drug laws. We seek a five-year sentence in this case because of the serious dangers Emery posed to the community through his distribution of large volumes of a harmful controlled substance which, in turn, fueled the potential for marijuana grow related violent crime.

 

The government’s case was investigated and prosecuted without regard for Emery’s personal politics, his political agenda, or the ways in which he chose to spend the proceeds of his drug crimes. We do not view those matters as particularly relevant to the offense to which Emery pleaded guilty, or to the determination of the sentence that this Court will impose.

 

IV. CONCLUSION

 

For all of the foregoing reasons, the government respectfully recommends that the Court impose a sentence of five years in prison, as well as the other sentencing conditions recommended by the U.S. Probation Office.

 

DATED this 31st day of August, 2010.

 

Respectfully submitted,

JENNY A. DURKAN

United States Attorney

/s Todd Greenberg

TODD GREENBERG

Assistant United States Attorney

United States Attorney’s Office

 

United States Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum filed by Richard J. Troberman on Sept 4, 2010

 

 

I. FACTUAL BAGKGROUND.

 

Marc Scott Emery, a Canadian citizen, has for most of his adult life been a political activist and proponent of legalizing marijuana. As the president of the BC Marijuana Party, Marc has run for office several times. In furtherance of his goal of legalizing marijuana, Marc was for many years, inter alia, engaged in the sale of marijuana seeds around the world. This was not a business that operated underground, or even in the shadows. On the contrary, Marc openly operated his seed distribution business ("Marc Emery Direct") from a storefront in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as well as over the internet; through telephone sales; direct mail sales; and though other media outlets. Revenue Canada gladly accepted taxes on all of his sales, which were duly reported to the appropriate taxing authorities. Virtually all of the profits from the business went to funding lawful efforts to legalize marijuana in Canada and the United States through the political process.

 

On May 26, 2005, Mr. Emery was charged by indictment in this district. The primary offense charged in the indictment was Conspiracy to Manufacture Marijuana in violation of 21 U.s.c. $$841(aX1),841(bXlXA), and 846. On July 25, 2005, Marc was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on an extradition warrant when the indictment was unsealed. Thereafter, he was transported to Vancouver, B.C., where he was held in custody from August 2, 2005, through August 5, 2005, prior to being released on bond. As the extradition proceeding progressed, Mr. Emery attempted to resolve this case through discussions with both Canadian authorities and the United States Attorneys Office.

 

In September of 2009, a tentative agreement was reached with the United States, whereupon Marc ceased all efforts to contest his extradition to the United States on this charge. On September 28, 2009, after consenting to extradition, Marc voluntarily entered pre-trial detention custody in Canada, where he remained until November 18, 2009, at which time he was temporarily released pending entry of the final extradition order by the Canadian Justice Minister.

 

On May 10, 2010, the final order was entered, and Marc voluntarily returned to custody. He remained in custody in B.C. until May 20, 2010, at which time he was transported to the United States, where he had an initial appearance before this court.

 

On May 24,20L0, Mr. Emery was arraigned on the indictment and, pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.Pro. 1l(cXlXC), entered a guilty plea to a lesser included offense charged in Count I of the indictment. Sentencing is scheduled before this Court at 1:30 p.m. on September 10, 2010.

 

II. MAXIMUM STATUTORY PENALTY.

 

The maximum statutory penalty for this offense is a term of imprisonment of not less than five (5) years up to forty (40) years; a fine of up to $2,000,000; a period of supervised release of not less than four (4) years; and a mandatory penalty assessment of $100.

 

III. OBJECTIONS TO THE PRESENTENCE REPORT.

 

Mr. Emery has no objections to the Presentence Report that affect the guidelines calculation.

 

IV. GUIDELINES OFFENSE LEVEL AND SENTENCING RANGE.

 

We concur with the Probation Office’s calculation of the advisory sentencing guidelines. That calculation includes a base offense level of 28; a two level upward adjustment pursuant to U.S.S.G. $2D1.1(bX6) (distribution by means of a computer service); a two level upward adjustment for role pursuant to U.S.S.G. $3B1.1(c); and a three level downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. $3E1.1(b). With a Total Offense Level of 29 and Criminal History Category I, the advisory sentencing guidelines range is 87-108 months.

 

V. THE PLEA AGREEMENT.

 

The plea agreement in this case was entered into pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.Pro. 11(cX1XC). Pursuant to Paragraph 10 of the plea agreement, the parties agreed that a sentence of sixty (60) months was an appropriate disposition of this case. The Probation Office concurs in that recommendation. We urge the Court to accept the agreement and the sentencins recommendation.

 

VI. SENTENCING FACTORS.

 

In order to uphold the constitutionality of the Sentencing Reform Act, the remedial decision rnUnited states v. Booker,543 u.S. 220 (2005), severed l8 U.S.C. 93553(bX1) (the provision making application of the guidelines mandatory) from the SRA. Thus, after Booker, a sentence within the guidelines range may not be necessary to achieve the Congressionally defined purposes of sentencing. A district court’s job is to impose "a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes" of section 3553(a)(2). The United States Supreme Court has made clear that reasonableness is the appellate standard of review in judging whether a district court has accomplished that task. Ritav. United States,551 U.S. 338,127 5.Ct.2456, 168 L.Ed.2d203 (2007). However, the Supreme Court has also rejected the notion that a sentence that amounts to a substantial variance from the Guidelines needs to be justified by extraordinary circumstances, holding instead that appellate courts must review all sentences, both within and without the Guidelines range, under a differential abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States.

 

552 U.S. 38, t28 S.Cr. 586, 591, t6g L.Ed.zd 445 (2007).

 

In determining the particular sentence to be imposed, the Court shall consider the nature and circumstances of the offense, and the characteristics of the defendant. The Court shall also consider the need for the sentence (1) to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense; (2) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct; (3) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; (4) to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner; and (5) to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar offenses. Of paramount importance to any sentencing determination, however, is that all of these factors are subservient to the $3553(a) mandate to impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the statutory purposes of sentencing. And as Rita makes clear, traditional departure analysis under the guidelines survives post-Booker. Prior to Booker, many of these factors were largely ignored, because they were incompatible with the Guidelines. As one Court observed

 

"For example, under $3553(aX1) a sentencing court must consider the "history and characteristics of the defendant. "

But under the guidelines, courts are generally forbidden to consider the defendant’s age, U.S.S.G. $5H1.1, his education and vocational skills, $5H1.2, his mental and emotional condition, $5H1.3, his physical condition including alcohol or drug dependence, S5H1.4, his employment record, $5H 1.5, his family ties and responsibilities, $5H1.6, his socio-economic status, $5H1.10, his civic and military contributions, 95H1.11, and his lack of guidance as a youth, 95H1.12. The guideline’s prohibition of considering these factors cannot be squared with the $3553(a)(1) requirement that the court evaluate the "history and characteristics" of the defendant. The only aspect of a defendant’s history that the guidelines permit courts to consider is criminal history."

 

united States v. Ranum, 353 F.Supp.Zd 984 (E.D.Wis. 2005). Following Booker, however, courts must once again consider these factors along with the Guidelines and their policy statements.

 

VII. SENTENCING REGOMMENDATION AND APPLICATION OF THE $3553(a) FACTORS TO THIS GASE.

 

As set forth in the plea agreement, and for the reasons set forth below, we submit that a sentence of sixty (60) months would be a sufficient–but not greater than necessary–sentence in this case.

 

A. The Nature and Circumstances of the Offense and the Characteristics of the Offender.

 

1. The Offense.

 

As detailed in the Presentence Report and Paragraph T of the Plea Agreement, from September, 1995, though May, 2005, Marc Emery was engaged in the business of unlawfully selling marijuana seeds. The seeds were sold on a global scale from his business in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As the government observes in its sentencing memorandum, Mr. Emery has admitted that he had sold over 4,000,000 seeds, of which approximately 75% were sold to customers in the United States. The government’s conclusion, however, that Mr. Emery "literally was responsible for supplying millions of marijuana plants to grow houses in the United States" is both a gross exaggeration as well as factually and legally inaccurate.l Government Memorandum at 2. U.S.S.G. S2D1.1, Application Note 17, defines a marijuana "plant" as "an organism having leaves and a readily observable root formation (e.g. a marijuana cutting having roots, a rootball, or root hairs is a marihuana plant)." Mr. Emery sold marijuana seeds, not marijuana plants. This distinction is not splitting hairs. Rather, it has a significant impact on how the advisory sentencing guidelines are calculated in this case.

 

2. History and Characteristics of the Defendant.

 

Marc Emery is 52 years of age. His background is accurately described in the Presentence Report and no useful purpose will be served by repeating that information. Suffice it to say here that for the past 30 years, Marc has been an advocate and political activist for reforming what he perceived as unjust laws in Canada and the United States.

His past efforts have resulted in the repeal of Sunday business closing laws in Ontario, and overturning a Canadian federal ban on marijuana and drug literature. He has also been active (and successful) in promoting reform allowing for the medical use of marijuana in several states in this country. Indeed, as more fully described below, it was largely

Marc’s political activism that made him a target for law enforcement and that ultimately brings him before this Court for sentencing in this case.

 

Although well intentioned, Marc now realizes that some of the methods he chose to fund his efforts to repeal prohibitions against marijuana use and cultivation were illconceived and ultimately destructive. As Marc notes in his attached letter to the Court

 

(Exhibit A):

 

It was my sincere belief that the prohibitions on cannabis are hurtful to U.S. and Canadian citizens and are contrary to the U.S. and Canadian constitutions. I was, however, overzealous and reckless in pursuing this belief, and acted

arrogantly in violation of U.S. federal law. I regret not choosing other methods–legal ones–to achieve my goals of

peaceful political reform. Marc was never involved the unlawful distribution of marijuana seeds for personal

gain. He funneled virtually all of the profits from the seed business into his political activities. While Marc would be the first to say that this does not excuse his unlawful conduct, it does provide the Court with some insight into his motivation and intentions.

 

B. The Seriousness of the Offense; Promoting Respect for the Law; and Just Punishment.

 

To be sure, the offense to which Mr. Emery has pled guilty is a serious offense. But the advisory sentencing guidelines in this case, like all drug sases, are driven by the type and quantity of drugs involved. Moreover, despite the government’s claims to the contrary, the prosecution of Marc Emery was clearly and undeniably selective and

politically motivated.

 

The government alleges at page 3 of its sentencing memorandum:

 

The government’s case was investigated and prosecuted without regard for Emery’s personal politics, his political agenda, or the ways in which he chose to spend the proceeds of his drug crimes. With all due respect to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, and to AUSA Todd Greenberg, who have handled this case with professionalism and integrity, that claim is absurdly naive. The Attorney General’s true motive–which was to silence Mr. Emery’s political activity–could not be more clear. We do not make this claim lightly. One need look no further than the official press release issued by Drug Enforcement Administrator Karen Tandy following Mr. Emery’s arrest in July of 2005:

 

Today’s arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and 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.

* * *

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 have one less pot of money to rely on.

 

Statement from DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy, July 29, 2005, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit B (emphasis supplied).

 

When Mr. Emery started his marijuana seed distribution business, not a single state had enacted a Compassionate Use (medical marijuana) law. By July of 2005, all of Canada and ten states in the United States had passed such laws, either by ballot measures or by legislative enactments. As of today, a total of 14 states, plus the District of Columbia, have enacted medical marijuana laws, and a ballot measure for the complete legalization of marijuana is pending in Catifornia.2 Between 1995 and 2005, Mr. Emery donated several million dollars to various groups to use in their lawful efforts to legalize marijuana through the legitimate political process. Apparently, that was too much for the DEA to tolerate. This is evidenced by the high priority the Attorney General placed on prosecuting Mr. Emery. Quoting again from DEA Administrator Tandy’s press release:

 

Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General’s most wanted international drug

trafficking organizational targets — one of onllz 46 in the world. and the only one from Canada. Tandy Statement, July 29,2005. Ms. Tandy’s statement is either gross hyperbole, or reflects a shocking acknowledgement of totally misplaced priorities within the Drug Enforcement Administration. Marc Emery and his two employees–both of whom are co-defendants in this case, and each of whom received sentences of probation–were, according to the Attorney General of the United States, one of the 46 most wanted "international drug trafficking organizations" on the planet, and the only such wanted organization in Canada!3 How can this claim make sense? It is well documented that numerous Canadian drug trafficking organizations are responsible for importing tons of marijuana, hundreds of thousands of ecstasy tablets, and multiple kilograms of methamphetamine into the United States on a weekly basis. Likewise, these organizations are responsible for exporting from the United States into Canada hundreds of kilograms of cocaine per month.

 

Certainly, this court has seen its share of defendants who are members of such organizations. Yet, according to the then head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, only Marc Emery was on the list of most wanted drug trafficking organizations in Canada.

 

And he was also part of one of only 45 such wanted organizations in the entire rest of the world. If placement on that list was truly based on Mr. Emery’s unlawful seed distribution business rather than his political activities, what does that say about our nation’s law enforcement priorities in the "war on drugs"? Even a dispassionate comparison of Mr. Emery’s conduct with comparable businesses operating at the time belies the government’s assertions about the scope of Marc’s business. When Marc Emery was charged in this case, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of others selling marijuana seeds on the internet into the United States, many with equal or greater sales volume. Even today, there are hundreds of people openly selling marijuana seeds over the internet. See Google Search, September 2,2010, attached hereto as Exhibit C.

 

The only thing that makes Mr. Emery unique or different from most of these other seed sellers is that Marc donated his proceeds to help fund lawful marijuana legalization efforts throughout the United States and Canada. On this record, no one can (or should) take the government seriously when it claims that this case was not politically motivated.

 

Of course, none of this excuses Mr. Emery’s unlawful conduct, nor does Marc offer it as an excuse. It does, however, help to put both the offense and the prosecution of this case in proper perspective.

 

C. The Need for the Sentence to Afford Adequate Deterrence to Criminal Conduct.

 

We submit that a five year prison sentence will serve as an adequate deterrent. It is unlikely that others will be inclined to engage in this type of conduct if they realize that the consequences for such conduct will include such a lengthy prison term.

 

D. The Need to Protect the Public From Further Crimes by Mr. Emery.

 

Mr. Emery has learned a costly lesson as a result of his involvement in this offense. He has never before been incarcerated for a substantial period of time. Based on the responsible way he has responded to these charges, there is no reason to believe that he will again engage in illegal conduct.

 

E. The Need to Provide the Defendant with Required Medical Care.

 

There are no significant medical issues in this case.

 

F. The Need to Avoid Unwarranted Sentencing Disparity.

 

As previously discussed, Michelle Rainey and Gregory Williams, who were employees of Mr. Emery, each received sentences of two years probation. We recognize, however, that their mitigating roles justify a reduced sentence in this case.

 

VIII: Conclusion.

 

We respectfully submit that under all of the facts and circumstances of this case, and for all of the reasons hereinabove set forth, a sentence of sixty (60) months is a sufficient, but not greater than necessary, sentence. We ask the Court to recommend placement at FCI Lompoc, California in order to facilitate continued visitation with his wife.

 

DATED this 4th day of September, 2010.

 

By LEVI PULKKINEN, Seatlle Post-Intelligencer

 

Marc Emery — "Prince of Pot," purported political prisoner and shameless self-promoter — will soon become Marc Emery, prison inmate.

 

When he faces a federal judge Friday in a Seattle courtroom, the Canadian marijuana seed dealer will almost certainly be sentenced to a five-year term in federal prison.

 

A plea agreement inked earlier this year to end the five-year-old prosecution guarantees as much. Should U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez impose another sentence, either Emery or the prosecution could pull out of the deal.

 

That practical certainty hasn’t stopped Emery from using Friday’s hearing to draw attention to two of his favorite causes — marijuana legalization, and himself.

 

Emery, a 12-time candidate for elected office in Canada and magazine publisher, spent millions of dollars gained through a mail-order seed business to advocate for marijuana law reform in Canada and the United States. After a lengthy extradition fight, Emery pleaded guilty earlier this year to drug crimes, which he described as "civil disobedience."

 

Writing the court in preparation for Friday’s hearing, Emery cast his multi-million-dollar marijuana seed business as having been a tool in his fight against marijuana prohibition. He and his attorneys again reiterate bellicose statements made by then-Drug Enforcement Administration chief Karen Tandy in which she described Emery’s 2005 arrest as a blow against the marijuana legalization movement.

 

In a letter to the court, Emery was contrite. He’d previously fought extradition and, through his supporters, continues to conduct small rallies demanding his release.

 

"It has always been my sincere belief that the prohibitions on cannabis are hurtful to U.S. and Canadian citizens and are contrary to the constitutions of both countries," the 52-year-old wrote in the Sept. 1 letter.

 

"I regret not choosing other methods — legal ones — to achieve my goals of peaceful political reform," the former candidate for Vancouver, B.C., mayor continued. "I have no one to blame but myself. … In fact, one of my heroes, Mahannes Gandhi (sic), often said that an important principle of civil disobedience is acceptance of punishment by the state without complaint.

 

"I, too, accept my punishment without complaint."

 

When he and two coworkers were arrested following a lengthy DEA investigation, Emery’s was one of dozens of businesses selling marijuana seeds. Emery’s attorneys point out that a simple Internet search shows those businesses continue to operate without drawing the ire of the U.S. government.

 

For reasons never explained by the Justice Department, Emery was the sole Canadian on the Attorney General’s most wanted list of drug traffickers. At the time, violence was on the rise among British Columbia-based gangs largely funded by the province’s illicit marijuana crop.

 

In contrast to the gangs often targeted by federal law enforcement in partnership with Canadian authorities, Emery ran his operation out of a Vancouver storefront. Sales of his seeds — roughly 3 million of which were sent to customers in the United States — were taxed by the Canadian government.

 

Asking that Martinez impose the agreed term, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg disputed claims by Emery that he was targeted because of his political activities. Emery, the federal prosecutor contended, poses "serious dangers … to the community through his distribution of large volumes of a harmful controlled substance which, in turn, fueled the potential for marijuana grow-related violent crime."

 

"From the Department of Justice’s perspective, the focus of this case always has been, and should remain, on Emery’s long term and repeated violations of the U.S. drug laws," Greenberg told the court.

 

"The government’s case," he continued, "was investigated and prosecuted without regard for Emery’s personal politics, his political agenda, or the ways in which he chose to spend the proceeds of his drug crimes."

 

That claim — that the Department of Justice was disinterested in Emery’s activism — runs counter to Tandy’s statement issued the day the "major North American marijuana trafficker" was arrested in Nova Scotia.

 

In full, Tandy stated the following:

 

 

Emery attorney Richard Troberman cited Tandy’s statement as evidence that his client was targeted for fighting against the drug war.

 

Noting that Greenberg handled the case with "professionalism and integrity," Troberman described the federal prosecutor’s claim of disinterest in Emery’s political activities as "absurdly naive."

 

Troberman argued his client was targeted by the DEA because he, unlike his competitors in the marijuana seed business, used his profits to fund pro-pot initiatives, including medical marijuana reforms in several U.S. states.

 

"The only thing that makes Mr. Emery unique or different from most of these other seed sellers is that Marc donated his proceeds to help fund lawful marijuana legalization efforts throughout the United States and Canada," Troberman told the court. "On this record, no one can or should take the government seriously when it claims that this case was not politically motivated."

 

Emery’s supporters are expected to gather outside the Stewart Street courthouse Friday afternoon in preparation for his sentencing. Through his Cannabis Culture magazine, Emery’s supporters also contend rallies will be held in 57 cities around the world to ask that he be allowed to serve his time in a Canadian prison.

 

Speaking to her husband’s magazine, Jodie Emery reiterated that the seed business was run "with the explicit goal of funding the marijuana legalization movement."

 

"He paid his income tax on seed sales, and operated openly and transparently," Jodie Emery said, according to Cannabis Culture. "Marc and I have no savings, bonds, stocks, property, cars, homes, or anything of value. On the day of his arrest, he had $11 in his bank account.

 

"Marc Emery sold seeds not for personal profit, but for drug policy reform and progress that has, since he started in 1994, been very successful."

 

Currently housed at the SeaTac Federal Detention facility, Emery is expected in court at 1:30 p.m. Friday. He pleaded guilty to drug charges in May.

By Stephen Thomson, Georgia Straight

 

Vancouver marijuana activist and entrepreneur Marc Emery is scheduled to appear in Seattle court tomorrow (September 10) to face sentencing on charges related to an on-line seed-selling business.

 

Emery was arrested in 2005 as the result of the combined effort of Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies.

 

When his bail term expired in May of this year, Emery surrendered himself to authorities in Vancouver and the federal justice minister approved his extradition to Washington State.

 

Emery, who is being held at SeaTac Federal Detention Center, is expected to receive a five-year sentence arranged through a plea deal, said his wife, Jodie Emery.

 

She said the hope is to then win support from the Canadian government to have her husband, a politically active magazine publisher who for years has championed marijuana-law reform, transferred back to his home country to serve his sentence.

 

“There’s no reason Marc should be serving any time down there, of course,” she told the Straight today by phone. “So we hope that he can at least be brought home. That’s our main goal, just to bring him home.”

 

Marc Emery is set to appear before judge Ricardo Martinez at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile, supporters are expected to turn out for dozens of “Free Marc Emery” rallies planned around North America and in other countries for September 18.

 

By rabble staff

 

This media release just in:

 

Marc Scott Emery, the leader of the BC Marijuana Party and well-known marijuana activist and businessman, is appearing in US Federal Court in Seattle, Washington on Friday, September 10th.

 

Marc Emery, who was indicted for selling marijuana seeds online and through the mail from Canada, is being formally sentenced to the 5-year term he agreed to in his plea deal. If the judge sentences him to more or less time, the deal will be null and void, and a trial will ensue with the possibility of 30 years to life in prison.

 

Jodie Emery, wife of Marc Emery, will be at the US Federal Court (700 Stewart Street, downtown Seattle) at noon on Friday to meet with supporters and media.

 

"It’s nerve-wracking to go through this process," Jodie said, "but Marc and I are both doing our best to stay strong. We know he is a political prisoner and, no matter the outcome on Friday, we just want him to be brought home to serve his sentence in Canada."

 

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is responsible for Marc’s repatriation to Canada. He has received hundreds of letters and phone calls asking him to approve Marc’s transfer treaty request to come home, as required by law and the Charter.

 

The Drug Enforcement Administration, on the day of Marc’s arrest in 2005, said that he was targeted as "the founder of a legalization group" and it was "a significant blow to the marijuana legalization movement" because "hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery’s illicit profits were channeled to drug legalization groups active in the United States and Canada".

 

Though the DEA and the media have reported that Marc "made millions of dollars", Jodie Emery insists that the money was all given away to activism groups and events. "Marc started selling seeds with the explicit goal of funding the marijuana legalization movement, which he did tremendously well, to the tune of $4 million dollars over the decade he was in business. He paid his income tax on seed sales, and operated openly and transparently. Marc and I have no savings, bonds, stocks, property, cars, homes, or anything of value. On the day of his arrest, he had $11 in his bank account. Marc Emery sold seeds not for personal profit, but for drug policy reform and progress which has, since he started in 1994, been very successful."

 

On Saturday, September 18th rallies are being held in over 57 cities in North America and abroad. This is the fourth "worldwide rally to Free Marc Emery" since 2005. Thousands of people support Marc Emery and have participated in activism to raise awareness of his history and current incarceration.

 

Marc is currently imprisoned at the maximum-security SeaTac Federal Detention Centre. He was subjected to three weeks in solitary confinement for a "prison podcast" recording, but has been in general population since.

 

www.FreeMarc.ca

www.CannabisCulture.com

 

By Alison@Creekside

 

In a guest column in the Seattle Times on Friday, the former US attorney who indicted Marc Emery in 2005 for selling pot seeds over the internet wrote:

 

“The U.S. war against marijuana has failed and actually threatens public safety and rests on false medical assumptions. Our marijuana policy is dangerous and wrong . . . . the law has failed, the public is endangered, no one in law enforcement is talking about it and precious few policymakers will honestly face the soft-on-crime sound bite in their next elections.”

 

This includes our own homegrown cowards, principally Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Rob Nicholson, who had Marc Emery deported to the US in May to serve a five-year sentence that will begin next week.

 

As Lib MP Ujjal Dosanjh put it back in March when he joined forces with Con MP Scott Reid and NDP MP Libby Davies to present petitions from 12,000 Canadians in the HoC asking Justice Minister Rob Nicholson not to sign extradition papers:

 

 

A Canadian man at that. The rhetoric from the DEA at the time of the 2005 bust was absurd:

 

 

In a letter to his wife Jodie yesterday, Emery remarks on the importance of getting supporters to write to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and the US DoJ for the Saturday Sept 18th Marc Emery Support Day. I don’t care if you don’t smoke pot — I don’t smoke pot — but write a letter or support a rally on Sept. 18th. I’ll stick up a reminder then.

 

History, ironically aided by his former prosecutor, is already moving to vindicate Emery. Too bad he still has to serve the time so that Canada can continue to suck up to the phony “dangerous and wrong” moribund US War on Drugs, huh?

 

By Sunday we were both doing some great work to impress each other and ourselves, and became very excited to see each other on Monday to get it right. You did some great work on a personal letter to Judge Martinez, you were contacting elected Canadian politicians to sign on to a letter to Vic Toews urging my repatriation and getting commitments, you got press releases done and sent out for my sentencing on Friday, and we discussed how John McKay, the former District Attorney who originally prosecuted me and demanded my extradition here, called me an idiot in the Sunday Seattle Times while advocating legalizing marijuana.

We both thought it outlandish that McKay, who was part of the problem of prohibition (now admitted by himself in print), did not recant his actions against me. I was, after all, sincerely advocating the solution he now agrees is the necessary approach to solve the problem of organized crime. He was in the wrong, I was in the right, yet I’m an idiot and he is living life unmolested by any guilt over his tenure as D.A. while adopting the very politics I espoused as he pursued me and ripped me out of my country and happy home.

And then I did something so stupid. I knew that today, Monday, was Labor Day and we were both excited to see each other soon after 2pm. You and I have never encountered a holiday visit that changed the visiting schedule; the last holiday, July 4th, was on a Sunday and normally that’s a 2-hour visit any time between 7:30am and 2:30pm, so we didn’t think a federal holiday impacted times at all because that holiday schedule was no different than the usual Sunday schedule. So I assumed visiting started at 2pm, and you remember that child-like aphorism "Never assume, because you make an ASS of U and ME" – and I did! I didn’t look it up in my rulebook or think about it, so didn’t tell you that holiday visits are always at 7:30am, then you showed up at 1:45 to start the visiting processing at 2pm, and they turned you away because visiting was just ending!

It was so heartbreaking, frustrating, infuriating and depressing for both of us. I cried in my room, and I broke down and cried at the dinner table when I got my pathetic "dinner" of peanut butter, 2 slices of bread and white rice.

I decided to focus on the good parts of my weekend. I decided I want to turn www.MarcEmery.ca (which currently just takes people to www.FreeMarc.ca) into the website for my life story writings. I have fourteen stories in my autobiography done and I’m not particularly interested in whether it’s in published book form or not – I’d rather have a website where all my good writing can be accessed in one place. So I’m going to write a minimum of 100 stories about my life, as planned when I said the book would be 100 chapters, and I already have 14 done now. Then I want my best published pieces from other publications – like "Rastafari: The Secret History of the Marijuana Religion", which is my favorite piece I ever wrote for Cannabis Culture Magazine – included in another section called "My Favorite Writings". Others I want at MarcEmery.ca are "Prince of Pot Busted" from CC #58 [article also posted at www.CannabisCulture.com/FreeMarc] and the interview "Marc Emery: The Prince of Pot Speaks Out" from CC #16. The piece "On the 30th Anniversary of my Vasectomy & My Girlfriend’s 2nd Trimester Abortion" published at www.WesternStandard.ca will be part of my autobiography, and it’s my favorite written work on a life experience, up to some of the stories I’ve written in the last week.

I want to include the best of my original jail blogs from my imprisonment in Saskatoon in 2004 (which you transcribed from audio to post online, falling in love with me as you spent hours every night listening to my stories), but I’ll need to go over copies that you can send me in the mail. I’m really looking forward to what you think of my new auto-bio stories "Saving Roy", "Dad & Betty", "Toni Lauriston", "The Prophecy", "Breaking My Promise", "Two Years Behind Bars", "Stamp Treasure", "Bound Volumes" – and all of them. The only one that’s not really great is my first one I wrote about Cheech & Chong and “Big Bambu”, but everything else I think is very good material.

I’m surprised how good my chapter on life in Federal Prison is. It’s for a new book by Barry Cooper. It will really fully inform people who might be headed to federal prison what life is like in an FDC, including being in the ‘hole’, solitary confinement. That’s the point of Barry including the chapter: my experience there. It’s very thorough. The next chapter for him is "Life in an FCI", which I can’t write with authority until I get to my Federal Correctional Institution sometime after my sentencing this Friday. My transfer could be just three weeks after sentencing, or it could be months. I just hope it’s a place that has email (Corrlinks, which we use to communicate with each other and cherish) and that it is not too awkward for you to visit, since you don’t drive and rely on supporters to help.

I know I am asking the judge to recommend my designation be Lompoc FCI, 25 miles north of Santa Barbara in California. We have friends there you can stay with, and it’s near air routes from Los Angeles, so it won’t be as expensive to visit as many of the other places I might get sent to, which could be as far as Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, or North Carolina.

Of course, the best thing about this Friday the 10th when I get sentenced is my Transfer application, under the International Transfer of Offenders treaty, goes to the Canadian Consulate after I get sentenced. As soon as I arrive at my designated FCI, wherever it may be, I can put in my application to the US Bureau of Prisons for transfer back to the Canadian Correctional system. Under current Canadian law, I qualify for parole at 20 months of my 60-month sentence as a first time non-violent offender in the Canadian federal system. That means I could be out on parole in November 2011, in time to be with you for Christmas next year!

I just hit the 6-month (180 days) mark of my sentence today – that’s the time I’ve served awaiting extradition and my sentencing – so if I’m transferred to Canada, 20 months will be November 10, 2011. But that’s only if Public Safety Minister Vic Toews approves my transfer, and the US Bureau Of Prisons approves my transfer. D.A. Greenburg said he would not oppose my transfer in our negotiations, so that is very positive, and because there were no victims to my crime (according to my PSR report) there will be no objection from any "victims", so that just leaves the US Justice Department, represented by the BOP.

That’s why it’s important, dear Jodie, to emphasize to all our supporters, that the effort they make on Saturday, September 18th, Marc Emery Support Day, is vitally important. Canadians writing letters to Vic Toews is SO IMPORTANT; I need him to receive thousands of letters IN THE MAIL to assure prompt approval of my transfer. I need the US Justice Department to receive thousands of letters from US CITIZENS, IN THE MAIL urging my repatriation back to Canada. I don’t think enough attention has been paid to my US supporters making their voice heard at the US Justice Department for my transfer to Canada.

The Honourable Public Safety Minister Vic Toews
Parliament Hill
Suite 306, HC Justice Building
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
(No postage required in Canada)

204-326-9889 and 613-992-3128

•••

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

202-514-3173

I answered some questions from the Vancouver Sun’s Ian Mulgrew, who is preparing material for an article on my sentencing ["Prince of Pot prosecutor declares marijuana prohibition a bust"]. I know he has seen John McKay’s piece in the Seattle Times. My friend and great protégé Loretta Nall, in Alabama, was furious McKay called me an idiot (and tens of millions of Americans also) for using cannabis while he was the problem and I advocated the solution he now calls for, and she wrote a letter condemning his hypocrisy. But here is one of Ian’s questions with my answer:

Q: Do you have any regrets now that you’ve been incarcerated, and even put in solitary confinement?

A: I do have regrets. I regret that my methods of selling seeds to Americans put me in jail and took me away from my wife. I miss her dearly and think of her every day. I cry over it frequently in my cell or when I speak to Jodie on the phone. But then I have to consider what became of that $4 million I gave away to American and Canadian activists and lobby groups. I gave $5,000 in January 1998 to pay petitioners to gather signatures in Washington, DC for a medical marijuana initiative, which was finally implemented recently. If not for that $5,000, the signatures would never have been collected and the medical marijuana distribution scheme going into effect now (it was blocked by Congress for 10 years) would not exist. The director of the Alcohol Distribution Agency in Washington, DC actually called me on the phone earlier this year and consulted with me on protocols for running the medical marijuana production aspect of the system, of which he is in charge of. Even more significantly, in January 2000, I gave $15,000 of my seed profits to pay signature gatherers in Colorado to get the medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in that state. Without that money, the campaign probably would have failed; so Colorado, which now has over 200,000 of its citizens with medical marijuana cards and the legal ability to possess, cultivate and consume medical cannabis, would not be where it is today. Those 200,000 citizens would still be being prosecuted, instead of protected as they are today, because one Canadian cared enough and had a plan!

And Canadian governments collected taxes from me for those seeds sales. Health Canada recommended me before they started selling their two varieties of seeds. The worldwide Global Marijuana March, which sees 20,000-30,000 attendees march in downtown Toronto each year, with participation worldwide of perhaps a quarter million people in over 300 cities, was started with money from my seed sales; from 1999-2005, each year I contributed $35,000 to fund this now self-sustaining event to get it where it is today. The April 20 celebrations that go on everywhere on Earth, and attract 10,000 participants in downtown Vancouver each year, and 10,000 in Denver now too, and perhaps up to a million more celebrants around the world (but especially Canada and the USA), was started in 1995 by my co-workers and the money from my seed sales, and grew into a global phenomenon because I made it happen. The 2003 Canadian Supreme Court challenge to marijuana prohibition in Canada that took 8 years and $85,000 of seed sale money to finance would never have happened without that money. We lost 6-3, but we were only two judges’ opinion away from changing history – all because I was there with a plan to make it happen. My pioneering drug addiction clinic and rehabilitation center, the Iboga Therapy House, which blazed a trail for what is now recognized as the greatest hope for drug addiction recovery, ibogaine hydrochloride, was done from 2002-2004 with $205,000 in seed sales money.

I have hundreds of examples, Ian, of outstanding history-changing events: election campaigns, polls, rallies, clinics, court challenges, conferences, compassion clubs, legal challenges, class-action suits against the US federal government, and much more, all of which existed only because of the millions of dollars of seed money that I directed to those projects. $152,000 in seed money was contributed to the historic BC Marijuana Party campaign in 2001, where a full slate of 79 candidates participated seriously in every riding in British Columbia. It put cannabis at the front of the election and debate issues. All of these actions were peaceful and democratic and fully transparent, harming no one, for the purpose of liberating humanity and the beloved plant therapies of the Earth. To regret my actions that led to this sad and unjust incarceration would be to deny all the great good that came from my philanthropy, it would be to deny the great progress our movement has made as a result of my unrelenting and honest activism.

Do I regret being in prison? Yes. Often. I am, however, very pleased that I have made considerable progress in my autobiography. I am working hard away on my Canadian voters guide. I have a chapter completed about life in US federal prison for a new book by Barry Cooper. I have written 300 letters of correspondents to people of the world who have written me. I have been busy. I have tried to be stoic. My hero, Martin Luther King, Jr. was often called on to go to jail to force the issue of segregation before the media, courts, and politicians. To quote the book I have finished reading on King, "Pillar of Fire" by Taylor Branch: "Above all, King hated jail, which revived his bouts of self-reproach and depression. He decided to post bond the next afternoon." Even the great man himself found jail a hard thing to endure, and I have spent already far more time in jail for my cause and my people that King endured in his time.

That’s the end of that answer for Mulgrew. I share it with you, Jodie, because we both need inspiration and cheering up, and Mulgrew can only use a few lines at best.

I am still your ever-faithful husband, and I am always madly in love with you, and that makes my time more unbearable and at the same time endurable, knowing that I am still your hero, no matter what comes. It is you I rely on so much for moral comfort in my dark and sad days of loneliness that sometimes afflict me here, and when I contemplate the long, difficult road ahead, of enduring months and years of incarceration, it is your love and the legacy of my achievements that keep me from utter and abject collapse into despair.

Having finished part one and two of Taylor Branch’s fine biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., I am now reading Stephen Davis’ biography of Bob Marley, hoping I can find inspiration in Bob’s incredible rise to greatness from the most humble of origins. Of course, Leonard Howell, the founder of Rastafari, was made to suffer ridicule and persecution by the Jamaican government in his lifetime, so I have the example of the great ones in my soul, Miss, and I am cognizant that there is a fine place in history for the both of us, so let’s rejoice about our unique love, our great marriage and our incredible destiny that awaits us. Remember our world tour we will embark on upon my return and final release from prison! We will go to Ireland, England, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Italy, India, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and everywhere else my supporters have invited me – let us hope that happens in 2012! Our fans will sponsor us, just as they did across Canada for our Farewell Tour last year. We have never traveled abroad because the US authorities would have had me arrested since I have been doing my revolutionary activity since 1995, so it’s been 14 years since I have been anywhere outside of Canada. Once my US time is done and this sentence is served here and in Canada, we can visit the cannabis culture across the globe – it will be the reward for all our struggles. And then I hope we will finally go on our triumphant tour of all 50 states in the USA to meet our people, and it will be glorious with cannabis legal and accepted, finally, after all these pernicious government persecutions have been declared obsolete. That is the dream!

Our Farewell Tour was so wonderful last summer: 30 cities across Canada in 38 days, and we never had an argument or any kind of kerfuffle! We were so in love even knowing I would be gone soon, and we traveled hours every day to get to the next speaking engagement. How is the Farewell Tour DVD video coming along by the way? I know you have the first cut, but have yet to watch it. That magnificent tour will be fully captured on DVD when you add the photographs we took in each city, along with the videos you made (and still have more to make) on YouTube, which chronicled all of the tour locations and dates.

(More videos to come – Subscribe to PotTV on YouTube!)

Paul McKeever is finally able to produce the new movie “Principle of Pot” on DVD and he told me of the packaging and the production going on. You’ll have them later this month, it’s hoped. He said he finally watched it for the first time since he produced it, about 5 months ago, and it still seemed pretty good to him! It took 17 months to do. I responded to Paul that it is a brilliant work, painstakingly put together, considering it’s available for free and he’ll never make a dime from all that work. It has so much seminal material on my life. People send me letters with my quotes from “Principle of Pot” all the time. I wonder how many views on YouTube it has now?

The "Principle of Pot" DVD will be great as a document to explain so much of my life, I think, especially when someone asks, "Who is Marc Emery?" when they see signs at an intersection or on an overpass that say "Google Marc Emery". The doc was very rationally presented, and easy to digest even though it’s four hours long as it’s very visual and entertaining. I don’t think that anything about me on video will ever be as complete or as good a job explaining the history of my wide-ranging politics and activism before, and including, marijuana.

I told Paul that the CBC documentary “Prince of Pot” director Nick Wilson got such great feedback and exposure for his debut director’s job that it’s unlikely he’ll find any subject matter as interesting or as challenging. “Prince of Pot” was broadcast over 18 times on CBC, Knowledge Network, and Court TV. I hope he will do an updated re-issue of the DVD with producer Anne Pick, reflecting my incarceration and interviewing you in your much more mature persona that isn’t captured in the original 2006/2007 “Prince of Pot” movie.

In a strange and disturbing parallel thought, I know it was my life story that propelled director Chris Doty, from my hometown London, Ontario, to end his life. Five days before committing suicide, my friend and video & play biographer Chris confided to me over dinner, looking me in the eye and saying with sadness and confession, "No one cares about the histories that you and I care about, Marc. I might end up amusing people with my historical work, and some things, like my Donnelly play, made money and were popular, but that was a fluke. People don’t care that you are one of London’s greatest sons; they ignore it. It’s all meaningless to them. This damn world of cheap, sleazy television… it makes me wistful, like I was born in the wrong time."

Then you and I went with him to the premiere of the great play about me, “Citizen Marc”, which I so loved and was proud of everything about it; I thought it was amazing. And after the premiere, Chris escorted us back to the London Armories Hotel, standing outside the front entrance, and he asked me what I thought. I said, "It’s perfect, Chris, absolutely perfect. You should film it for DVD and release it with your first documentary about me [‘Messing Up The System’], and take it on the road as well." And then he wanly smiled and said "I’m pleased to hear you say that, Marc. That way, if I died tomorrow, I could go content knowing you approved."

Those were the last words I spoke to him, the last I heard from his mouth. Five nights later, on a Thursday night in his mother’s home, he hung himself, because, I always thought, Wednesday and Thursday night’s performances hadn’t sold out like the premiere night, and it confirmed his cynical belief that people in London just didn’t care about something/someone he thought they should care about. The play Citizen Marc went on to win "Best Actor" (for the lead star) and "Best Director" in that year’s Brickenden Awards for theatre, and could probably be mounted as a successful stage play across Canada to great success today.

Many times I have wished I had lied to Chris and told him "It’s a bit rough, Chris, I think you need to work on it more to really get it right, then maybe it will be more popular." Telling him it was perfect was his moment to decide that "Citizen Marc" was the last great project he wanted to complete. Chris began his career in documentary with me, the 1993 documentary film "Marc Emery: Messing Up The System" and it won an award too, and got him his first full time job in documentary films. He believed, I think, that his life had come to its terminus, full circle from beginning to end, literally with my life story.

Today I was so sad because I had a disappointing weekend with and without you, my wonderful wife, but now I’m crying in the corner of my computer room here in the FDC because Chris Doty gave his life to get my life story out there, and I had better live up to his ultimate investment in me. Chris Doty, a great talent, gone, who got so bound up in my life that he took on an unfair, unexplainable burden of what he saw as a rejection of what I stood for, and saw the world in the wrong perspective for just as much time as it took for him to take his own life. And he so loved and respected my work and me after spending so much time in my original bookshop City Lights so many years ago.

I’m sorry I was mean and angry in my earlier messages, Miss, and I really should be braver and better. I just think of Chris Doty and his love for me and I am so grateful to be alive and to have your love, and so grateful that I have lived amongst friends who loved me so much.

I will call you in the morning, my dearest! Finally my phone is restored after running out of minutes last Thursday! Those 300 minutes we are limited to each month sure don’t go far. But Tuesday is the 7th and my commissary limit and my phone minutes get restored on the 7th of each month, so I will call you around 9:00 am to wish you my love and apologize for any harsh words I wrote to you when I was so overwrought with frustration and sadness at our visit not happening.

Goodnight, sweetheart. I can’t wait to hear your voice!
Your Humbled Prince,
Marc

 

Canada’s prince of pot, Marc Emery, spent Labour Day in a U.S. prison reading a newspaper column by his former prosecutor saying anti-cannabis laws are "dangerous and wrong."

 

In an insult to injury that should cause Ottawa to blush, the man who hounded Emery to face American drug and money-laundering charges declares the pot prohibition should be ended.

 

John McKay, now a Seattle University law professor, argued in the weekend article that the war against marijuana has failed, actually threatens public safety and rests on false medical assumptions.

 

"I DON’T smoke pot," Seattle’s former U.S. attorney insisted. "And I pretty much think people who do are idiots."

 

But McKay added: "As Emery’s prosecutor and a former federal law-enforcement official, however, I’m not afraid to say out loud what most of my former colleagues know is true: Our marijuana policy is dangerous and wrong and should be changed through the legislative process to better protect the public safety."

 

The DEA insisted in 2005 Emery was one of the world’s "most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets." Today McKay admits "our 1930s-era marijuana prohibition was overkill from the beginning."

 

What a travesty of justice!

 

"The hypocrisy of him being my prosecutor and still supporting my sentencing (he doesn’t condemn it) while admitting that the law is wrong and counterproductive is unsaid -but it needs to be," Emery complained in an e-mail from jail where he is awaiting sentencing.

 

"I am victimized by the law for hurting no one."

 

From the moment of Emery’s 2005 arrest, I have said his extradition was wrong.

 

He openly sold seeds in Vancouver for more than a decade and no one was willing to enforce our law — the underhand tactic by Vancouver cops to outsource justice to the Americans was offensive.

 

In response to the outcry following Emery’s arrest, police did lay a couple of other charges.

 

A 36-year-old Courtenay man was given a month in jail for the identical offence. In March 2008, the Court of Appeal said that was an appropriate punishment for selling seeds.

 

In Montreal, Richard Baghdadlian of Overgrow. com and Heaven’s Stairway, was also busted shortly after Emery and given a conditional sentence of two years less a day — that is, no jail time.

 

Hundreds of Canadian seed companies still sell into the U.S. market.

 

Emery, of course, was targeted by the DEA because he was out to end the cannabis prohibition.

 

The Americans said Emery earned $5 million from his illicit catalogue business and channelled hundreds of thousands to pro-marijuana groups.

 

"Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on," the DEA punned in its press release. How funny.

 

"If changing U.S. marijuana policy was ever Emery’s goal, the best that can be said is that he took the wrong path," was McKay’s attempt to put him down.

 

Wrong: It looks to me like Emery lost the battle and won the war.

 

In November, California will vote on a new legal tax-and-regulate proposition. Similar initiatives are planned for Oregon and Washington in 2011, and Colorado in 2012. More than a dozen states with medical marijuana programs are following California’s path.

 

Too bad Emery’s paying a far too hefty price for his prescience — having promoted a more sensible public policy and a more truthful debate around cannabis — while the intellectually dishonest gloat that, well, okay, they are wrong and the law’s an ass, but Emery still should be punished.

 

I remain ashamed that Canada handed him over to the U.S. rather than react to their concerns by prosecuting him.

 

On Friday Emery is to be sentenced to five years in a U.S. penitentiary under a plea bargain. Five years! In Canada you can kill someone and not do that kind of time.

 

"My incarceration costs taxpayers money they don’t have to perpetuate a policy that doesn’t work in a state where the majority say they want marijuana legal," Emery said. "So who are the idiots?"

 

Regrets?

 

"I do have regrets," he confided. "I regret that my methods of selling seeds to Americans put me in jail and took me away from my wife. I miss her dearly and think of her every day. I cry over it frequently in my cell or when I speak to Jodie on the phone. But then I have to consider what became of the $4 million I gave away to American and Canadian activists and lobby groups."

 

Emery can hold his head up; it’s a shame those who prosecuted him can’t do the same.

Marc Emery is expected to be formally sentenced to the 5-year term he agreed to in his plea deal. If the judge sentences him to more or less time, the deal will be null and void, and a trial will ensue with the possibility of 30 years to life in prison.

Jodie Emery, wife of Marc Emery, will be at the US Federal Court (700 Stewart Street, downtown Seattle) at noon on Friday to meet with supporters and media.

“It’s nerve-wracking to go through this process,” Jodie said, “but Marc and I are both doing our best to stay strong. We know he is a political prisoner and, no matter the outcome on Friday, we just want him to be brought home to serve his sentence in Canada.”

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is responsible for Marc’s repatriation to Canada. He has received hundreds of letters and phone calls asking him to approve Marc’s transfer treaty request to come home, as required by law and the Charter.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, on the day of Marc’s arrest in 2005, said that he was targeted as “the founder of a legalization group” and it was “a significant blow to the marijuana legalization movement” because “hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery’s illicit profits were channeled to drug legalization groups active in the United States and Canada”.

(The press release can be found online at www.FreeMarc.ca under “Who Is Marc Emery” or by downloading the original file at http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/files/Tandystatement.jpg)

Though the DEA and the media have reported that Marc “made millions of dollars”, Jodie Emery insists the money was all given away to activism groups and events.

“Marc started selling seeds with the explicit goal of funding the marijuana legalization movement, which he did tremendously well, to the tune of $4 million dollars over the decade he was in business," she said. "He paid his income tax on seed sales, and operated openly and transparently. Marc and I have no savings, bonds, stocks, property, cars, homes, or anything of value. On the day of his arrest, he had $11 in his bank account. Marc Emery sold seeds not for personal profit, but for drug policy reform and progress that has, since he started in 1994, been very successful.”

On Saturday, September 18, rallies are being held in over 57 cities in North America and abroad. This is the fourth Worldwide Rally to Free Marc Emery since 2005. Thousands of people support Marc Emery and have participated in activism to raise awareness of his history and current incarceration.

Marc is currently imprisoned at the maximum-security SeaTac Federal Detention Centre. He was subjected to three weeks in solitary confinement for a “prison podcast” recording, but has been in general population since.

By: Maria Cichosz, The Varsity

 

Marc Emery, Canada’s self-proclaimed “Prince of Pot,” is set to be sentenced in a United States Federal Court on September 10. Emery was extradited to the U.S. on May 20, 2010, to serve a five-year prison term for the sale of marijuana seeds over the Internet. Canadian police worked with the U.S.’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to have Emery extradited and charged under America’s vastly more severe drug laws rather than having him serve his prison term in his home country. Emery’s extradition to a foreign country to serve a sentence for activities that took place on domestic soil raises questions not only about prohibition and drug policy issues, but also about Canada’s ability to act as a sovereign nation and protect its own citizens.

 

Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds openly sold seeds through online mail order from 1994 to 2005. Emery practiced a great deal of transparency in his business, accurately declaring the source of his income and paying all provincial and federal taxes. Though Emery’s store was raided for selling seeds on multiple occasions, Canadian courts repeatedly sentenced him only to fines and no prison time. In Canada, seed sellers face a $200 fine and one month in jail. U.S. penalties are much harsher, and if Emery is not sentenced to the five-year prison term agreed upon in his plea bargain, he faces 30 years to life in the American prison system.

 

Though the distribution of seeds is illegal in Canada, no case has been prosecuted for decades and Canadian businesses similar to Emery’s are allowed to operate with little state interference. What makes Emery’s case unique is the fact that the profits from his business were routinely used to fund anti-drug war and anti-prohibition activism worldwide and within the U.S. The DEA press release issued upon Emery’s arrest confirmed that the motivation for his arrest and extradition was mainly political and intended to deal a “significant blow” to “drug legalization lobbyists.” Emery’s admittedly illegal business had no American branches, no American employees, and he never set foot in the U.S. Despite this and despite being a Canadian citizen, he is being extradited to a foreign country to serve a prison term far harsher than any he would have received in a Canadian court.

 

Whether or not one agrees with Emery’s practices, activism, and drug law reform efforts, it remains clear that his extradition represents our country’s failure to protect its citizens and administer its laws within its own borders. Bending under American pressure to make an example of Emery in the political context of a costly, ineffective, and increasingly unpopular war on drugs, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s extradition order is representative of Canada’s inability to stand independently of U.S. policy and pressure. If Emery is to serve time for his seed sales, he should do so on Canadian soil and under Canadian law, not as a “criminal alien” who has limited rights within the U.S. prison system.

 

Emery’s extradition is unnerving because it demonstrates our government’s willingness to hand over its citizens to a foreign country when their actions and beliefs are not in agreement with that country’s policies. Clearly, the safety of citizens is not as important to the Canadian government as compliance with American ideology and policy. This is a case in which the alleged legality or illegality of Emery’s actions is far less relevant than the Canadian government’s response to them. Our justice system should not be outsourced on demand.If Emery has committed illegal actions in Canada, he should be prosecuted under Canadian law. Ultimately, Emery’s extradition is a gross injustice done to a Canadian citizen who has never harmed anyone, and a clear violation of the rights and protections promised to citizens by our government. At this point in time, only Emery’s repatriation can serve as a sign of respect for Canadian sovereignty and the right to choose how laws are enforced within our own borders.