Marijuana.com

Buzzby

Statement Regarding The Arrest Of Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams of the British Columbia Marijuana Party
NORML Canada | PR Direct | 08/02/2005

Montreal, Quebec, August 2 /PR Direct/ - On Friday July 29th 2005 these three individuals were arrested at the request of the US Drug Enforcement Agency for charges involving conspiracy to traffic and produce marijuana as well as conspiracy to launder money connected to the sale of marijuana seeds over the Internet. They now face extradition to the US to answer to these charges.

While Canada and the USA have for a long time had an extradition treaty between them, nevertheless the facts of this case involve the tacit acquiescence of the Canadian government in this open conduct over the better part of the last 10 years.

Is it fair for our government to turn a blind eye for almost ten years and then to agree to assist the USA to extradite its own citizens?

In our view the conduct of the Canadian Government on this matter in agreeing to assist the USA in the extradition of these three Canadians is an affront to our Canadian sense of justice and should shock the conscience of all Canadians.

We urge the Canadian Government to rescind its co-operation with the USA in this case and to either move ahead with a legislative agenda to regulate and tax all aspects of cannabis use and commerce or, in the alternative to enable these Canadian cannabis political activists to have their day in a Canadian court.

Withdraw from the extradition request and either charge them here or change the law.

NORML Canada stands for the regulation and taxation of all aspects of Cannabis production and sale in Canada. See our webpage www.normlcanada.ca for our full detailed "Statement of Principles and Policies".

We also feel it germane to point out that any eventual move by Canada to legalize marijuana must be accompanied by strictly enforced legislation prohibiting the export of cannabis and its derivatives so we may avoid these types of situations in the future.

- END PRESS RELEASE - 8/2/2005

__________________

 

Mamabudz

Apparently they did not turn a blind eye for ten years -- they actually have been working on this sting for some time:

POT ACTIVIST WANTED BY U.S. GRANTED BAIL

Marc Emery Was 'Directing Mind' Of Seed Enterprise, Crown Alleges; Supporters Say Arrest Was Political

VANCOUVER -- U.S. drug-enforcement agents posed as marijuana enthusiasts for nearly 10 months, returning to Marc Emery's storefront headquarters in Vancouver again and again, where they say the Canadian marijuana activist sold them thousands of cannabis seeds.

At first, the purchases were small, just a few dozen seeds, priced at a couple of hundred U.S. dollars. But soon, the two undercover officers, a man and a woman, were spending thousands, placing orders in person and over the phone, according to U.S. prosecutors.

Federal Crown attorney Rosellina Dattilo described the elaborate undercover operation in a packed Vancouver courtroom yesterday at Mr. Emery's first court appearance since his dramatic arrest last Friday on a request by the United States.

Ms. Dattilo, who said she was acting on behalf of U.S. authorities, described Mr. Emery as "the directing mind" of a multimillion-dollar seed-distribution business, the bulk of whose customers reside in the United States.

She urged Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm of B.C. Supreme Court to reject Mr. Emery's bail application, arguing that he was a flight risk and would return to his illegal business if released.

However, Mr. Emery's lawyer, John Conroy, painted a sharply different picture of his client and chided Canadian authorities for participating in the U.S.-led probe.

Far from being a marijuana mogul, Mr. Conroy argued, his client is largely a political activist who lives hand to mouth.

Mr. Emery, who has become a cause celebre in Vancouver since his arrest, sat in the prisoner's box dressed in a shabby beige sweater, occasionally turning to wave to the dozens of supporters who showed up and blow kisses to his wife.

Mr. Emery is accused of selling seeds out of his bookstore and over the Internet. He also runs a magazine and is president of the British Columbia Marijuana Party.

Mr. Conroy argued that his client has openly sold his seeds for years in Canada with no interference from authorities here.

"Here we have a situation where they turn a blind eye locally, and now they're in a position of assisting the U.S. to try to have him extradited to the U.S., where the penalties are substantially greater than here," Mr. Conroy said.

Mr. Emery faces charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. U.S. officials have said they will seek his extradition from Canada to stand trial in Seattle, where conviction on either of the marijuana charges carries a minimum prison term of 10 years.

He was granted bail provided he could raise a $50,000 ( Canadian ) surety.

Mr. Emery's co-accused, Gregory Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek also were granted bail.

The charges have caused a stir among marijuana activists in Vancouver. They staged noisy protests throughout the weekend.

Mr. Emery's supporters say the charges are politically motivated, aimed at silencing his outspoken criticism of marijuana prosecutions.

"This is a political persecution not a criminal prosecution," said B.C. Marijuana Party campaign manager Kirk Tousaw.

"They are not after Marc Emery because he sells marijuana seeds. There are dozens of those seed sellers throughout Canada and the United States. They are after Marc Emery because he is a political activist, and we need to make sure Canadians understand that because this issue goes far beyond marijuana policy."

In the courtroom, some supporters laughed aloud when Ms. Dattilo read out the U.S. allegations.

Ms. Dattilo said U.S. undercover agents made contact with Mr. Emery in September of 2004.

Not only did they show up at Mr. Emery's Vancouver bookstore, they bought seeds from his Internet-based business, she said.

In 2000, other U.S. undercover agents paid more than $7,000 ( U.S. ) for nearly 3,000 seeds after ordering them over the Internet, she told the court.

The seeds were sent to a U.S. mail-box address and later were grown into plants to be used as evidence at a future trial.

On one occasion, Mr. Emery lectured the female undercover officer in his store on how to avoid detection when she returned to the United States with her seeds. One tip was to fill her car with shopping bags, so she could tell the border guards she came to Canada to shop.

All told, U.S. prosecutors allege that Mr. Emery sold more than a million dollars ( U.S. ) worth of seeds over a 10-year period dating back to 1995. Vancouver Police assisted in the probe, seizing Mr. Emery's bank records. Ms. Dattilo said $1.7-million ( U.S. ) was deposited and withdrawn from one account during a five-year period ending in 2005.

Tolerance4all

"Apparently they did not turn a blind eye for ten years -- they actually have been working on this sting for some time:"

The author was saying that the Canadian authorities turned a blind eye to Emerys seed selling for ten years.

The DEA conducted the 10 month investigation. Albeit I am sure the Canadian narcs helped, but only at the request of the DEA. The statement about the $7,000.00 in seeds in 2000 sounds fishy, why would they wait five years to arrest him? Unless its true that Emerys arrest is politically motivated. They certainly were not waiting to catch the "Big guy's". They only arrested three people, which to my knowledge have been there all along.

"All told, U.S. prosecutors allege that Mr. Emery sold more than a million dollars ( U.S. ) worth of seeds over a 10-year period dating back to 1995."

When this story first broke they were saying he made $3,000,000.00 per year. The lies come easy to the narcs! It's hard to tell which time their lying.

Buzzby

Of course it's politically motivated. They busted Emery for the same reason they busted Tommy Chong for selling bongs: he's highly visible and they believe busting him "sends a message" to less visible people doing the same thing.

Selective enforcement goes on all the time. Does the fact that Dealer X didn't get busted invalidate the fact that Dealer Y did? Have you ever heard the expression, "it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease"? Emery taunted US law enforcement, repeatedly and in public. Why would they not respond?

smotpoker

Marc is the leader of the bc marijuana party a legitimate political party that fields canidates in like the ridings in BC. I dont agree with american officials being part of a raid on the BCMP. If there is a reciept in there because i supported their political party, some US narc could have my name. For what? Because i gave some cash to a fringe party? They could fly over your house with infra red helicopters because you gave money to a noble cause. That should concern you if you are american. They are pretty tight about your privacy at CC, but if your magazine subsciption order was on their desk right when the storm troopers raided it, the DEA could know you read pot mags. Seems to me its a fishing expedition.
There are proabably 100 places you can buy seeds in canada, over the counter and mail order. Its not a secret, they pay sales taxes on seeds. The cops could walk into all sorts of stores and arrest people, canadian cops never do. This whole 18 month investiagtion to arrest one guy is bull****, why didnt they take down the whole industry in one sweep?
Selling 3 millon in seeds isnt 3 mil profit. He supported a **** load of causes. His competetors make almost as much, but i dont see their sponsorship at any ralley i have been to. They dont have free videos like the ones on pot tv either. They dont send a bunch of money and weed to compassion clubs. No one criticzes the other seed companies for making money, just the easy target, the guy who uses his real name and face. So what if they were expensive, you didnt have to order them.
Imagine you sent someone a bottle of booze in saudi arabia, and your government sent you there to get tortured for breaking the ****ed up laws of a crazy country. I see american drug laws as crazy just like that. American jails, and for 20 years,that is torture, ask amnesty intl.
Your government should go find Osama before coming into other nations and trying to influence our laws. You guys should be mad an 18 month investigation to watch someone who didnt hide what he was doing cost you millions in tax dollars. Wouldnt that money be better spent elsewhere? 18 months to pretend they are actually working, by ordering seeds, and growing them. What a joke.

 

ChronicSmoke7

personalities aside this is what its all about, money...since when has the DEA ever been efficent? Its a waste of tax payers money.....

king cola

The seeds were sent to a U.S. mail-box address and later were grown into plants to be used as evidence at a future trial.

Since when does the DEA have the authority to grow marijuana plants? Who gave them permission to grow them, did the supreme court? did the president? did congress? That's a crime committed right there in my opinion.

Oh yea and Emery didn't sell seeds over the internet, it was by mail or in person, his seed catalog was online which people had to print their order forms out and send it through the mail! Did the DEA even have permission right away to go to Canada and buy seeds from emery in person or did they do this amongst themselves? As for pot, Emery never sold pot through the mail, they didn't get pot sold to them in the U.S, the agents purchased it in Canada so how is that a U.S crime in Canada when that incident took place in their country and not ours?

Basically the only law he broke was sending seeds to the U.S but he never sent pot to our country so that charge is bullsh*t because the agents went into Canada and made that purchase, not to mention the Canadian authorities knew all of this was going on and just looked the other way.

What i'm getting at is that the agents were going into Canada and setting him up before finally getting permission 2 years later for the raid. The thing is unless before the raid the agents talked to Canadian officials 2 years ago to tell them what their plan was, the agents broke Canadian law if they crossed the border as just regular citizens and bought pot from him at his store.

Niteshift

Basically the only law he broke was sending seeds to the U.S but he never sent pot to our country so that charge is bullsh*t

In legal terms, the seeds are pot. They are prohibited under the same statutes.

What i'm getting at is that the agents were going into Canada and setting him up before finally getting permission 2 years later for the raid. The thing is unless before the raid the agents talked to Canadian officials 2 years ago to tell them what their plan was, the agents broke Canadian law if they crossed the border as just regular citizens and bought pot from him at his store.

Canada, like many other countries, authorizes DEA, FBI etc. to work in their countries with various restrictions. For example, a DEA agent can work in Mexico (ie make buys, work informants etc), but can't make an actual arrest and can't be armed. Canada has similar provisions. But a DEA agent in Colombia can be armed. That's how the agreement with them is. The agreement with each country is approved by their government. It's not the way you think it is.

__________________
A burning desire for social justice is never a substitute for knowing what you're talking about. -Thomas Sowell

Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.

BC.Buddy

Perhaps, but Mr. Emery has been paying substantial amounts of taxes on all the seeds he's been selling, does that mean our Canadian government is profiteering from criminal sales?!! No. It means that Canada's marijuana laws are progressing and we are becoming more and more lenient towards the plant.
Also, I agree with the comment above, they came to Canada and purchased the seeds. If Canada did legalize marijuana, does that mean that the U.S. could send undercover operatives to buy marijuana here and then prosecute the retailer under their harmful, old laws?! That's the problem right there:

Yes, we have an Extradition Act with U.S. But America is pushing their luck with how big they think their jurisdiction is. Also, they frequently don't honour(Canadian spelling) agreements with Canada; Free Trade is an example!

What is the argument here? The U.S. should be allowed to silence marijuana activists, because it continues to ignore both examples set by Canada and the voices of its own citizens?

I loved the Chong example! Political persecution. THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED! Does that mean that they could "investigate" a head shop here in Canada? Do a sting on the owner by buying some gear and taking it down to the states where the enforcement officials use it to get high, arrest the shop owner and try him in a U.S. court?

Ridiculous.

__________________
BC Marijuana Party
"Overgrow The Government"
| Cannabis Culture | Pot TV |

- Proud Cannabis User -

Bannor

Well, one way to look at it. Here in the states we have a "drug tax stamp", where if you are going to break the law, you need to buy the stamp to show you have paid taxes on the illegal product.
Now, that's profiteering from criminal sales!

I seem to remember reading over at CC that Marc pays $10,000 (that's canadian, I assume?) a year in fines for his seed business.
It's against the law to sell viable seeds in Canada and the US, according to my sources (including Jodie at CC).
No, again...Illegal to sell viable seeds, both countries. Whether your country is actively cracking down on them or not is not relevant, according to the MLAT that the Canadian Government signed.
Yeah it is, but in my opinion (and no offense meant), it is because it's not factual.

If the headshop owner was advertising and selling to folks in the US items that were proscribed under both countries law...The answer would be "yes" then, I believe.