Watch the NEW Documentary seen nationwide across Canada on television on CBC Newsworld. Originally aired Tuesday, October 23.
PRINCE OF POT: US vs. Marc Emery
A Documentary by Nick Wilson. Produced by Anne Pick. Originally shown at the Montreal and Vancouver Film Festivals. World television premiere Tuesday, October 23 on THE LENS, CBC Newsworld.
A Real to Reel Production.
all 5 parts of the CBC Newsworld Presentation from
Tuesday, October 23:
are here
August 9, 2007
Seattle Weekly, WA
[email protected]
August 8, 2007
Why Is This Canadian Pot Dealer Campaigning for Ron Paul?
He's looking for a pardon.
By Rick Anderson
Marc Emery longs for the day when a U.S.
president is willing to be photographed
bong in hand.
Marc Emery agrees his campaign-organizing effort for some 2008 U.S. presidential candidates is a bit unorthodox. He's Canadian, his political base of operations is the B.C. Marijuana Party in Vancouver, and he can be arrested if he sets foot into America.
Still, "We have a saying up here: 'American politics is far too important to leave to the Americans,'" says Emery, 49, who is trying to raise cross-border support for dark-horse White House candidates. He likes liberal Democrat Dennis Kucinich well enough, but prefers Republican Ron Paul, a longtime libertarian who, like Emery, opposes the U.S. war on drugs.
Most important, "If Ron Paul were to win," says a hopeful Emery, "he'd pardon all the pot people." That just might include Emery, whose campaign motives aren't purely political: Putting the right person in the White House, he says, might help him avoid spending life in prison.
Known by a legion of dope growers and law-enforcement officials as the Prince of Pot, Emery has launched a truly grassroots campaign in Canada while under indictment in Seattle.
The Drug Enforcement Agency labels Emery a "major marijuana dealer," although he never grew or possessed any of the illegal plants he is, by implication, accused of distributing. However, says the DEA, he sold marijuana plant seeds over the Internet, through the mail, and in person to individuals in the United States and around the globe for 11 years, leading to the eventual sprouting of millions of pounds of prized and potent B.C. bud in basements and greenhouses far away from beatific British Columbia. He was indicted in 2005 by then–U.S. Attorney John McKay on charges of conspiring to manufacture the drug.
During a 60 Minutes profile of the Prince last year, McKay called Emery "the biggest purveyor of marijuana from Canada into the United States." The DEA claimed his dope seeding resulted in 100,000 pounds of marijuana grown annually in the U.S. Over 11 years, that comes to 1.1 million pounds of dope, resulting in perhaps $2.5 billion worth of plants. "If it's true," says Emery, "I'm proud to have brought such wealth to our [drug] community." (That's the kind of smart remark, the defiant seedman adds, that "will guarantee that I get the highest sentence possible in a U.S. federal court.")
The indictment appears to be politically correct to the Bush administration, which is rumored to sometimes enforce the law ideologically. Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last December fired McKay, along with eight other U.S. attorneys, for apparently failing to follow in neocon lockstep on some issues. But the indictment of the lefty seed grower seems to have gotten the Bush seal of approval, even if, as some argue, selling dope seeds isn't much different from selling guns—the merchandise can be used criminally but also legally (guns for protection, seeds to grow medical marijuana).
Emery allows that he may have invited U.S. scrutiny in 2002 when he and other Marijuana Party members heckled White House drug czar John Walters during a Vancouver speech. He's cheering the new effort to remove Gonzales (an impeachment resolution was filed in the House last week by Rep. Jay Inslee and others). But the election of a Democrat or, especially, a libertarian to the White House in '08 fits both Emery's political agenda and his legal strategy.
"It's my belief," says Emery, who has been a follower of Paul, a 10-term Texas congressman, for decades, "that if Ron were elected, he'd rescind the indictment against me immediately. Or at least he'd appoint an attorney general who would pardon any nonviolent drug offender, clear out the jails, and end the drug war."
Paul's communications director, Jesse Benton, says the fledgling campaign welcomes all support. But Emery shouldn't necessarily expect amnesty from a Paul administration. "You would see a cooling of the federal war on drugs [under Paul]," Benton says. "But Ron believes in the rule of law, and I don't think this guy should look to Ron for him getting off scot-free."
Yet, if George Bush can commute the sentence of a perjurer like Scooter Libby, certainly Ron Paul could pardon a prince like Marc Emery, the seedman thinks. Facing an extradition hearing in November along with two others accused of the seed conspiracy, Emery is already planning appeals and other maneuvers to delay his likely Seattle trial until 2009, when a more friendly administration might take office.
Just eight Canadian enthusiasts dropped by Emery's initial Ron Paul Meet-Up last month at the Bump & Grind coffee shop in Vancouver. But Emery thinks he can garner more Paul support from U.S. students and other Americans living in Canada who are eligible to vote in the States. "We're trying to browbeat any American who comes into our store," says Emery, referring to the onetime Vancouver marketplace of his seed-mailing operation, which still peddles bongs and other "narcotics paraphernalia," as the cops call it. (As part of his bail agreement on the U.S. charges, a Canadian court has forbidden him from distributing dope seeds since 2005.)
He's trolling for supporters on his Web sites as well—Pot.tv and CannabisCulture.com, along with a popular MySpace page (myspace.com/prince_of_pot_marc_emery)—although the sites were recently disabled by a Chicago hacker. "We have his name and address," says Emery, but for some reason, he can't get U.S. authorities interested in helping him.
When Emery was arrested by the Mounties two years ago, Seattle DEA Special Agent in Charge Rod Benson said Emery needed to be locked up because he "was motivated by greed." Emery admits to getting rich quick after opening his mail-order biz, Marc Emery Direct, in 1994. "I sold millions of seeds," he said last week, "and sometimes made $2 million a year." But he blew much of it helping friends and causes, and is comparably broke today, he says.
Still, he's not in prison—yet. "You've got to listen to the Ron Paul song," Emery says, referring to the Three Shoes Posse single called "Ron Paul Is Here," in which Paul himself talks up his campaign to a reggae beat.
There's one line Emery particularly likes. "I would guarantee," says Paul, "that I would never abuse habeas corpus!" That's the process that allows prisoners to petition for their release. "If a Texan can advocate those freedoms, there's still hope," Emery says.
[email protected]
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Cannabis Culture Magazine is sponsoring a Ron Paul "Hope for America" bicycle awareness tour in South Carolina. From September 15th to the 23rd, marathon cyclist Ken Locke will ride through South Carolina armed with one thousand "Ron Paul: Hope For America" buttons, two thousand 3x5-inch information cards, a bicycle sign reading "Ron Paul: Hope For America, President 2008", and a trailing flag that says "Ask Me About Ron Paul for President!"
While Kent hands out buttons and cards, he will deliver Ron Paul's message to the folks of South Carolina, recognizing the importance of the Palmetto State's early primary on February 2, 2008. We encourage anyone in South Carolina to support Kent and Cannabis Culture, but more importantly to support and vote for Ron Paul in the Republican primaries!
Contact [email protected] for more information.
This Thursday in Vancouver, British Columbia, our Ron Paul meet up group is setting up a Ron Paul pavilion in downtown's main square at the Art Gallery, from 4:00 to 7:00pm. Three giant Ron Paul banners will hopefully draw US visitors to our booth, where information can be shared and taken away.
Starting next week, we will need volunteers to hold our 8-foot long by 3-foot wide Ron Paul Banners at the Vancouver cruise ship terminal, where most of the passengers are exiting and entering the cruise ships Thursday to Sunday. Most of these well-heeled people are American and Republican! So this is fertile and potentially valuable prospecting for Dr. Paul's campaign of constitutionally bound government and individual liberty.
Join a Ron Paul Meet-Up group at www.ronpaul.meetup.com !
Visit the official Ron Paul campaign site at www.ronpaul2008.com !
Read developments and updates at www.cannabisculture.com/forums !-------------------------------------- My June 1st, 2007 POT.TV show:Updated June 2, 2007
EXTRADITION HEARING DATE NOVEMBER 5 - 8, 2007
In what is scheduled to be a 4 day hearing in BC Supreme Court, Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams will begin the USA EXTRADITION hearing that seeks to take them into the US federal prison system. Emery is looking at sentencing that includes life without parole or worse, as the DEA on CNN's LOU DOBBS claimed Emery was the largest marijuana producer perhaps of all time because of his seed distribution activities. "We believe he is responsible for over 100,000 pounds of marijuana for every year he was in business."
Eleven years in the seed business times 100,000 pounds is 1.1 million pounds, worth conservatively $2.5 BILLION US. If its true, I'm proud of bringing such wealth to our community, and using the money that was sent for those seeds to thwart the US government in elections, conferences, activities around the globe. And remarks like the previous sentence will guarantee that I get the highest sentence possible in a US federal court, since I am proud of my activities, wish I did even more, am in no way repentent.
My lawyer, who is a very good extradition lawyer though very overbooked and overworked, has received very little money, and If I were to ask people any one thing it would be to send my lawyer a check or money order for $25 or $50 to Ian Donaldson, In Trust, Donalson- Jette, 490 - 1090 Homer St., Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6B 2W9. You can make any donation out to " Ian Donaldson In Trust(Marc Emery)".
Nonetheless, great as he is, he says I'm 98% doomed. Even though I'm a nice guy who hasn't hurt anyone and there are no victims here, the law is not in my favor. So my time is now going through the hourglass....
The process works like this, the hearing lasts for a week. The judge comes back with a "Committal" or "Refusal". If it comes back to Commit, then I and everyone who supports me has to lobby the Canadian Justice Minister to NOT DO IT. He has that power. There are many great reasons why he should agree with you, but he will need to be overwhelmed with letters and calls urging him to refuse extradition. A verdict from the Extradition Hearing would come back in 2008. Then the political phase of influencing Canada's Justice Minister to refuse the extradition begins. But he could decide immediately, as I'm sure he will and can order me surrendered. Then I can appeal that decision to the BC Court of Appeal. If I lose there, it is pretty well over. That process would take us to early 2009, when a new US administration takes over from Bush/Gonzales. A Canadian election will happen by then also. Alberto Gonzales, the BUSH appointed Attorney-General has made me a special target, following up on my notorious confrontation with John Walters in November 2002, when our unrelenting heckling interrupted the White House Drug Czar's speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade. A change in US President or Attorney-General could be very influential to my outcome. A change in the Canadian government is possible in late 2007 or Spring 2008, and the more Members of Parliament from the New Democratic Party would be the most helpful .for more information, go HERE :
Updated September 15, 2006
CBS News has decided to re-run "Marc Emery: the Prince of Pot" on 60 Minutes on Sunday, September 17th on the West coast of North America.
Correspondent Bob Simon talked to Marc Emery, who had a mail-order pot seed business that Canada ignored but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency wants to prosecute him for.
The "Prince of Pot", Canadian Marc Emery, could wind up in a U.S. jail for life for selling marijuana seeds, but says he would be "blessed" because such a plight could help legalize the drug. The last place he wants to be is in jail, but Emery says if the Canadian courts allow the U.S. government to extradite him and a U.S. jury puts him away, he still sees a silver lining.
"I am blessed by what the DEA has done," he tells Simon. "I would rather see marijuana legalized than me being saved from a U.S. jail. I hope that if I am incarcerated, I can influence tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of young people to take up my cause."
The 48-year-old Vancouver, B.C., resident is a fervent activist for the legalization of marijuana and a hero to the movement. He has made several million dollars and claims to have sold more seeds than anyone in the world on his Web site and through a magazine he publishes, "Cannabis Culture."
Selling the seeds is an illegal activity in Canada, but enforcement is rare and punishment light. The drug is legal for medicinal purposes and, overall, Canada has a very laidback attitude toward marijuana. But Emery estimates that the majority of customers he's sold to over the past decade are Americans.
Furthermore, British Columbia is a region that produces very pungent pot known as "BC bud" that is smuggled into the United States, where it's well known. Emery takes pride in the image. "(British Columbia growers) have had a wonderful marketing man in charge of that campaign - yours truly," boasts Emery.
U.S. officials in Washington also have taken notice, however. "We have a huge regional, national and international issue here in the growing of marijuana in lower British Columbia," says John McKay, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. "(Emery's) activities are kind of a leading edge of that marijuana problem."
McKay says the fact that Canadian officials don't regard him as a threat has no bearing in the United States, where marijuana seeds are just as illegal as the plant.
"He's dealing drugs into the United States and violating laws of the United States and we expect to extradite and try him in the United States," vows McKay.
Asked what he thinks of U.S. officials' stance that Emery is a major drug dealer, Canadian Senator Larry Campbell, a former drug officer, says: "If they consider that, then they have bigger problems than I can even imagine. There's simply no way he's a major anything."
There would also be a backlash from Canadians if the U.S. can extradite someone like Emery. "I think there would be outrage," Campbell says.
For McKay, the law is the law. "We have full respect for the laws of Canada - and they respect our laws and he's violated our laws. You know he calls himself the prince of pot but he may become the prince of federal prison," says McKay.
If he goes to prison, Emery wants to be known more as leader rather than a martyr.
"The language I like to use is one of a person, a leader, who’s confident and prepared to accept the punishment that noble purpose will bring about," Emery tells Simon.
You can watch the 60 minutes piece from the original airing on March 5th, 2006, here at www.Pot.tv.
Who Am I? I am publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine (on the net cannabisculture.com), director of www.POT.Tv, Party Leader of the BC Marijuana Party, and leader to those who are loyal first to the sacred herb.
I am a cannabis lover, a printophile (I love print & media), a womanizer, and I love to meet the cannabis people.
