Lit_Match

'Prince of Pot' prepares for extradition battle
07-30-07|The StarPhoenix|Kenyon Wallace

The "Prince of Pot" says he's surprised it took the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) so long to investigate his Internet business, which sold hundreds of thousands of marijuana seeds to Americans for 11 years.

"They claim I'm responsible for seeds that produced 1.1 million pounds of marijuana worth $3 billion. So, if it's true, I'm so happy about that," said Marc Emery, while speaking at a Saskatchewan Marijuana Party rally in Saskatoon on Saturday. "If I were the DEA, I would have targeted me too."

Emery, 50, is charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Emery's business partners, Gregory Keith Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, are also facing the same charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington has filed an extradition request with Canada asking that all three defendants be brought to Seattle to stand trial. The charges carry penalties of 10 years to life in prison.

"I'm probably guilty as charged and because I'm the largest marijuana producer in the history of the American criminal justice system, according to the DEA, that would be 200 or 300 years in jail," Emery told reporters at the Saskatoon Public Library. "To me, anything over 15 years is a death sentence because the average person dies in prison at 65."

Emery, who has been arrested 22 times and jailed 17 times, faces a hearing on Nov. 5, when a judge will decide whether or not to extradite him to the U.S., where he will stand trial.

About 100 people gathered in front of Saskatoon city hall on Saturday afternoon to show their support for Emery and to hear him speak on government, police and the legalization of marijuana.

Longtime pot crusader Grant Krieger, who was recently jailed on drug trafficking charges, came from Calgary to hear Emery speak and to look for donations.

"If a person has a lot of money to pay for a lawyer and use the legal system, they can change it," said Krieger, while sucking back on a fat joint. "But if you have no money, what can you do? Lawyers are expensive and we need money to defend ourselves."

Krieger suffers from multiple sclerosis and is one of the only people in Canada allowed to cultivate and possess cannabis to alleviate his pain. But the problem with his constitutional exemption, he says, is that he can't find any home insurance or get a mortgage because companies are afraid he will burn his house down with his marijuana-growing equipment.

Krieger was convicted in March of two counts of drug trafficking after two packages containing 801 grams of marijuana were sent by the Grant Krieger Compassion Club to Manitoba for distribution to people with similar neurological problems.

Emery, who potentially faces life imprisonment in the U.S., is optimistic.

"I'm very proud of what I've done, but I don't fear the consequences of taking on the Goliath of the U.S. federal government," he said. "It's going to be tough, miserable and not in my favour, but I love this war I'm in."

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)