Cower story: Smoke signals
The recent, high-profile arrest of B.C. pot activist Marc Emery at the behest of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has raised concerns about Amarican War on Drugs creeping across the border and threatening Canada's sovereignty in the area of drug-law enforcement. While you've no doubt at least heard of Emery by now, Dose's interview with the man and our in-depth look at the politics, players and precedents in his highly-scrutinized case will give you a better understanding of the stakes involved.
In '66, Timothy Leary was sentenced to 30 years for trying to cross into Mexico with pot >
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was arrested in Toronto in 1998 for possession and fined $500 >
Marc Emery's possible extradition could shake up marijuana laws both here and in the United States.
Lawyers across Canada are quietly saying the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's extradition case against Marc Emery could prove to be an embarrassment for the U.S. in its war on drugs. When the DEA asked Canadian police to arrest Marc Emery - founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party and Canada's highest-profile advocate to legalize pot - earlier this month, they likely thought it was a open-and-shut case. After all, Emery has admitted to selling "millions" of marijuana seeds to Canadians and Americans over the past 11 years and his website operates openly.
But legal experts are saying the DEA's politicization of the case and growing differences between Canada's and the United State's attitudes toward pot could scuttle the extradition.
THE POLITICS
Politics will likely play a big role in Emery's extradition hearing. As some legal experts are saying, the DEA itself has made it political. In a statement quoted by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the DEA said Emery's arrest was "a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade... but also to the marijuana legalization movement." That takes Emery's case out of the realm of pure law enforcement and into political territory. University of Ottawa law professor Amir Atteran says Emery's lawyers could even drag the DEA into court to explain its actions. But Alan Young, a law professor at Toronto's Osgoode Hall Law School who has advised Emery's legal team, says if Emery wins this case, it will likely be on technical grounds. "Instead of asking a judge to condemn U.S. politics, which is a tough thing for any public official to do, it's easier to give them something more technical where they express their disapproval through a neutral argument," Young said. So, a lawyer's best friend - the legal technicality - is Emery's best bet.
THE LEGAL TECHNICALITIES
Emery is wanted for selling marijuana seeds, for money laundering and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana related to his seed-selling business. While selling seeds is technically illegal in Canada, the law is rarely enforced. But in the U.S. it is and it carries long prison sentences. In order to extradite someone, the prosecution has to prove double criminality, which means the charges have to be for something that is a crime in both Canada and the U.S. "That's going to be an issue for the extradition court: is this even a crime in Canada? says Young. If the court answers no, it would be an admission that selling pot seeds is effectively legal in Canada. Arguing that selling seeds is no longer a crime here is "probably the strongest argument" in the case, Attaran says, because the Supreme Court has set a precedent that a person should not be extradited if the punishment he or she would face would "shock the conscience" of the Canadian public. But short of denying the extradition, the court could make demands on the U.S. prosecutors. "It could happen that, as a condition of getting Emery's extradition, the U.S. must give assurances as to how he'll be sentenced," Attaran says.
'NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE'
At the heart of the problem with Emery's extradition, says Alan Young, is that this sort of situation has never come up before. Now that Canada's attitudes towards marijuana are growing further apart from those in the U.S., it's an issue. "We have hemp cultivation, we have a medical program in which people are allowed to obtain seeds. Ultimately, a judge will have to deal with the issue of whether or not there is true equivalence (between Canadian and U.S. drug laws)," Young says. Amir Attaran agrees. "This is the exploration of the unknown," he says.
IT RESTS ON IRWING COTLER
Regardless of how the B.C. court rules, the final decision on Marc Emery's extradition will be made by Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who has to approve all extraditions. Cotler is not permitted to comment on the proceedings until they are finished. "The matter will not come before me until such times as the courts commit somebody for extradition," Cotler told the Vancouver Province last week. But Attaran speculates that Cotler may be using a "quite Canadian" political trick to prosecute an activist without taking the political heat for it. "Could it be that (the Department of) Justice would like to see Mr. Emery sorted out somehow but doesn't want to take the political heat for it, when there are these handy Americans to do it for us?" he asks. "I don't know - DANIEL TENCER/DOSE
How do you feel about U.S. intervention? Vote at http://www.dose.ca/emery
BORDERLESS CRIME COULD BLUR THE 49TH PARALLEL
MARC EMERY'S EXTRADITION case has renewed attention on the growing presence of American law enforcement agencies in Canada. It poses a difficult question: is Canadian sovereignty being eroded by U.S. agencies pursuing criminals on this country's soil? According to a spokesman from the U.S. consulate in Vancouver, there are at least a half-dozen U.S. federal agencies operating in B.C. Besides Emery, there have been a number of other incidents suggesting the U.S. is doing more than diplomacy in Canada. In one incident, a Vancouver police constable was stopped in his car by Texas state troopers in the B.C. Interior working with the RCMP to sniff out drivers who are under the influence of marijuana. While critics accuse the government of handling control of Canadian law to U.S. authorities, supporters of the new crime-fighting initiatives say Canada has much to gain from cooperating with well-funded, experienced U.S. agencies. "Criminals are more networked than ever before," Staff Sgt. Paul Marsh of the RCMP told the Vancouver Sun. "Obviously, we are going to maintain Canadian sovereignty, (but) there are no borders when it comes to crime." - DT
Marc Emery readies for the fight of his life
B.C.' 'prince of pot' talks candidly about his drug use, his drug charges and what happens now
MARC EMERY'S GOT no seeds to sell. The prince of pot's mail-order marijuana seed business is at the centre of a U.S. investigation into the marijuana activist's business. Emery was charged by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last month for selling seeds online - something he'd done for years. He is readying to battle extradition and prison, but says he's not scared. Emery, 47, grew up in Ontario and is leader of the B.C. Marijuana party. His arrest and subsequent charges have drawn national attention. Dose sat down with Emery, next to a wall painted with hemp leaves, and spent an hour talking about what makes him tick.
How do you respond when people call you a criminal or a drug dealer?
I'm a lawbreaker and a very specific lawbreaker, someone willing to break the law very transparently and openly in order to get the law changed. Income tax for the federal and provincial government took $578,000 of my money for six years, from 1999 to 2005 and they knew it was from seeds. I was completely transparent with everybody.
Are you a rich drug lord?
No. You must dispel that. I've never owned a car or an apartment or any kind of property or assets. My current apartment is $850 a month.
So, are you stoned right now?
No, goodness no. I haven't smoked in probably 24 hours.
How many joints do you smoke a day?
One or two tops. A complete joint? Not even one because you share a joint.
How do people react when meeting you?
Well, now a little more reverent than normal. People are very concerned on the street. But I also passed by a restaurant the other day where everybody got up and saluted and clapped.
How do you feel about your potential extradition to the U.S. and jail?
I feel worried that beautiful scene we've nourished here in Vancouver has been disturbed, not by any Canadian law or Canadian activity but by the DEA, which has been allowed to put paranoia and fear throughout the entire cannabis community of Canada. We've literally gone to another foreign power to impose its harsh U.S. drug war ways on the most obvious representative of the opposite. We have a great groundswell of public and political support for the way it's always been here, much more broadminded and realistic about the drug war.
Were you surprised to suddenly get arrested for selling seeds?
I realized the second I heard the words, "you're under arrest for extradition to the United States of America," I realized in that very long, frozen second in time that I was now going to enter my greatest period of confrontation. Remember, the whole idea is all a revolution, not only to end the cannabis prohibition but to overgrow the United States government.
What do you mean?
The whole methodology was to sell millions of seeds, to use millions of dollars, to use profits to agitate on a worldwide scale the political advancement of our movement, but on a botanical scale to produce millions and millions of plants so the government could never eradicate them all and eventually it would become futile for them to try; that they would use millions and millions and billions of dollars while one guy simply nullified all their work. That, of course, is why they want this one guy real bad. They're angry and frustrated that I've, uh, neutered them - CHANTAL EUSTACE/DOSE
EMERY TARGETED FOR SUPPORTING LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA, FRIENDS SAY
MARC EMERY MAY be facing some serious trouble in the U.S., but exactly why is a matter still under debate. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) argues Emery - who along with two others faces charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and concpiracy to engage in money laundering - was arrested because of his business peddling marijuana seeds over the Internet. However, Emery's supporters claim he is being targeted for his role as a marijuana legalization activist, his political ambitions and for the fact that he has spent thousands of dollars of his own money to support activists in the U.S. and Canada. The United States attorney's office released a statement after Emery's arrest that said, "Emery is well-known as the publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and as a leader of the B.C. Marijuana party. The charges filed are not related to that but are the result of an extensive undercover investigation." According to the Washington state district attorney, Emery's company sold marijuana seeds to undercover DEA agents online and in person. In July, DEA spokesman Jeff Eig said Emery's company sold seeds to Americans, regardless of age and, therefore, he was a "drug dealer" subject to U.S. law. - CHRISTIE TUCKER/DOSE (DOSE 098 Monday 22 August 2005).
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