Buzzby

Marijuana Martyr Will Have To Reap What He Has Sown
The Province | 08/03/2005

Vancouver pot activist Marc Emery, arrested last Friday after being indicted by an American grand jury on charges he sold marijuana seeds to folks in the U.S., was later reported by his fiancee to feeling a little scared.

And we can understand why: U.S. federal authorities don't fool around when it comes to the illegal drug trade. Emery, who was granted bail in Vancouver yesterday, knows this. Indeed, he has railed repeatedly against the evils of the U.S.-led drug war.

Which is why the Prince of Pot should not be too shocked that he has finally riled up Uncle Sam sufficiently to do something about his mail-order enterprise.

Certainly, the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party faces serious charges. He and two others are accused by the U.S. of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, to distribute marijuana seeds and to engage in money laundering.

Emery's lawyer, John Conroy, calls the case unfair because Canadian officials have let Emery sell seeds openly here for years.

But the charges Emery faces are not in Canada; they are in the United States. So this doesn't seem to be an issue of Canadian sovereignty. And the Canadian police's involvement appears limited to making the arrests (as the U.S. police would do for our cops, if the roles were reversed).

For years, Emery has portrayed himself as a marijuana martyr.

These new U.S. charges merely raise the consequences of him doing so to a whole new level.

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