B.C. pot activist says 60 Minutes segment will allow his real self to be seen

Simpatico ^ | March 2, 2006 | Camille Bains

[billorites]

Pot crusader Marc Emery says his appearance on the news program 60 Minutes on Sunday will be an opportunity for Americans to see him as just an ordinary guy who regards himself as the Luke Skywalker against their government's Darth Vader tactics.

Most people would be amused that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is trying to extradite him to face drug charges, Emery said. Americans weren't forced to buy his marijuana seeds, he said.

"I think Americans are going to say that if this is the No. 1 drug trafficking kingpin, then I want to move to Canada," he said, adding he's fighting an evil empire similar to one in the movie Star Wars.

"I enjoy that comic-book premise of my actions, that it's this little tiny person trying to bring justice and dignity to a whole culture in the face of a big, monolithic, Nazified institution like the DEA."

Bob Simon, the reporter who interviewed Emery in Vancouver for the 60 Minutes piece, said the program decided to air the segment on Emery because his case shows the enormous cultural divide between Canada and the U.S. when it comes to smoking pot.

"Vancouver has a very permissive culture as far as smoking of marijuana is concerned," Simon said from New York.

"You do not walk down the street in most American cities smoking a joint, whereas in Vancouver you can do it and you will not be punished for it," he said.

"We're not talking about the difference between the United States and Laos. We're talking about the United States and Canada, our proverbial friendly neighbours to the north and all that.

Simon said Emery has been punished only lightly in Canada, yet if he's extradited to the United States, "he's going to face really hard time."

What shocked Simon the most was the pervasiveness of marijuana grow-ops that offer huge profits for little to no risk. The reporter joined police for two days as they busted several suburban homes in the Vancouver area.

"I'd never seen anything like it," he said. "When you break into it, which the police did, it's just nothing but a marijuana farm. The science that goes into it and the extent of the plantation, that was shocking."

Emery, 48, will be facing an extradition hearing later this year.

Besides being accused of selling pot seeds to Americans through the mail, the longtime pot activist is charged with conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

Emery, along with his co-accused Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek and Greg Keith Williams, was arrested last July after police raided Emery's pot paraphernalia store following an 18-month investigation by the DEA.

Emery said he sold $15 million in marijuana seeds around the world between 1994 and 2005.

A chunk of the profits, he said, have gone to help pot activists in other countries and several U.S. states, including Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Alabama, where the U.S. Marijuana party is based.

Emery, who heads the B.C. Marijuana party and is the founder of Cannabis Culture magazine and Internet-based Pot-TV, has been arrested 21 times in Canada.

He was mostly fined but in 2004 spent 62 days in a Saskatoon jail for trafficking after passing a joint.

Cpl. Scott Rintoul, of the RCMP's drug squad, said he wouldn't want Americans to think Vancouver is some kind of drug haven, although he understands why someone would get that impression.

"I think that we, law enforcement, have been too tolerant of the marijuana industry and perhaps should have acted sooner," Rintoul said.

"When the marijuana thing sort of hit in the '80s and the grows continued, we were a bit naive and perhaps didn't do our job right then to educate the public, educate the courts, educate ourselves to the hazards."

Much of the marijuana flowing out of Canada is traded for cocaine in the U.S., which has also caused massive problems for law enforcement, he said.

[D.P.Roberts]

So his idea of an ordinary guy is Luke Skywalker. Must be smoking his own product.

[Dallas59]

Put him on camera after he smokes a bowl or two.

[jdm]

"adding he's fighting an evil empire similar to one in the movie Star Wars."

Self-important sap.

[jdm]

"Put him on camera after he smokes a bowl or two."

Let him kick it with David Gregory for a few hours.

[Migraine]

the B.C. Marijuana party and is the founder of Cannabis Culture magazine and Internet-based Pot-TV...

Are these people obsessed, or what? It's almost like a religion.

[ferri]

buzz and a ping

[Know your rights]

Put him on camera after he smokes a bowl or two.

Why? Should those who support the legality of the drug alcohol be required to down a few shots before speaking on that subject?

[Stew Padasso]

"Put him on camera after he smokes a bowl or two."

Maybe he could shoot the sh*t with Bill Bennet after he enjoys a cocktail or three?

[Dallas59]

Yep.

[Know your rights]

Should those who support the legality of the drug alcohol be required to down a few shots before speaking on that subject?

Yep.

At least you're consistent. Do you support banning alcohol?

[fanfan]

Put him on camera after he smokes a bowl or two.

LOL.

A bowl?

[fanfan]

Canada Ping!

Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.

[bigfootbob]

or a war, remember?

[yeff]

"Are these people obsessed, or what? It's almost like a religion."

and I think that's the problem here... their argument suffers because everyone knows their philosophical bent before they establish their position.

Doesn't mean their argument is wrong, however! Please keep that in mind.

[Migraine]

Doesn't mean their argument is wrong, however! Please keep that in mind.

I just can't imagine wrapping my life around a plant. Money, gold, cars, guns, music, sports, antiques, travel, or, in my case, my Savior, my wife and kids, my job (plus a few of the aforementioned, some of which have at least the potential to enrich). But, a weed?????????

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Americans are welcome to provide Emery with several years of free room and board.

It disgusts me that he's played the "anti-American" card to get support to avoid deportation. He's also playing the part of martyr. The fact that he's made millions from his exports belies his pretense of being an altruistic social activist.

[mugs99]

Are these people obsessed, or what? It's almost like a religion

It beats dancin' with snakes and drinkin' poison!
.

[yeff]

"I just can't imagine wrapping my life around a plant..."

You make so much sense! I can't imagine that either, and your obvious respect and devotion to your faith, family and job lend much credence to your position. But c'mon... your cup'o'tea ain't their cup'o'tea... we can at least all agree on that, can't we?

[Migraine]

It beats dancin' with snakes and drinkin' poison!

You've tried that? If not, then it's either the dumbest non-sequitur ever entered here on FR or else it's just a vicious, unsuccessful attempt to inflict rhetorical pain. What in the world does it have to do what I said?

[mugs99]

Take your meds and chill out!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

I think the stuff should be legalized.

[Migraine]

Go trim your ponytail.

[Nova]

That thought has not been approved by the DEA. You better be careful.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

LOL!!

[mugs99]

LOL!

[Migraine]

LOL!

[Nova]

When you compare the negative societal impact of the War On Drugs with that of marijuana use; it really is bizarre that pot is still illegal.

People would probably feel different if we were actually paying for the WOD instead of just charging it to some unknown future.

[Moonman62]

B.C. pot activist says 60 Minutes segment will allow his real self to be seen

I think he'd be better off otherwise.

[SandfleaCSC]

He looked pretty harmless to me. Our DEA agent on the other hand looked like a obsessed fanatic. The Canadian agents were laughing about what a waste it was to go after the "seed man".

[mugs99]

Our DEA agent on the other hand looked like a obsessed fanatic

He sure did! I think we should send the DEA man after Osama bin Ladin instead of the seed man.
.

[TKDietz]

I don't know anything about the guy, but apparently he hasn't gotten rich. He supposedly sold $15,000,000 worth of seeds in a ten year period, so his company would have brought in $1.5 million a year. No doubt he had operating costs and he had to pay for the seeds he was selling, so that would reduce the $1.5 mil. average annual gross income. He also claims to have given most of his profits to the "cause," and lives in a simple apartment rather than some fancy house, and is apparently relying on donations for his legal fees. He obviously isn't just swimming in cash. Maybe he is more of a social activist than a businessman.

He is setting himself up as a martyr though, and he does seem to be claiming credit for a lot he didn't do. Clearly he thinks of himself as some great hero. Reading the transcript of the show on the CBS site all I could think is how easy it will be for prosecutors to nail this guy with all his on camera admissions. It's a given that he'll be found guilty, at least of selling less than a hundred pounds of marijuana ($15 mil. worth of seeds at an average of $10 per seed, with 100 seeds weighing about 2.5 grams - comes to eighty something pounds). The worse thing for him will be the sentencing phase of the trial where the judge will hear all this talk about how he is the marketing man for the BC Bud industry, he his plan was to "overgrow the government," and single handedly win the drug war against the DEA. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get the maximum possible sentences on his charges. I doubt he'll serve much time before all is over and said and done with, but he'll certainly probably get a lot of time on paper if and when he is extradited. The Canadians won't like it at all if he gets major prison time, especially if the feds succeed in convicting him of more than delivering the actual weight of the seeds. I think they are trying to get him for all the pot those seeds could have grown and are claiming no other Canadian has brought more marijuana into the U.S. Most Canadians already think our war on marijuana is ridiculous. If one of their own goes down for a long time on what looks like trumped up charges in the U.S. it will cause a big stink up there. In the long run the fallout might even help shorten our doomed war on marijuana in a 'round about way. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[subterfuge]

Much of the marijuana flowing out of Canada is traded for cocaine in the U.S., which has also caused massive problems for law enforcement, he said.

Couldn't quite get through the article without the inevitable linking of hard, nasty drugs to cannabis, as usual.

[davesdude]

Are these people obsessed, or what? It's almost like a religion.

they only have a belief other than yours...if you don't understand why they are doing this, don't critisize... i understand why it is almost like a religion, and believe their is nothing more peaceful than this "religion" as by consuming a plant they tend to get closer to nature (not all but a lot) and has a diferent approach to life in general, of course i am taking about the mature user, not the teens smoking it to get high...


what i don't understand neither is that he declared is revenue to revenue canada for the last 10 years stating : selling pot seeds...should we arrest the whole canadian government??? this guy was legal in canada, so what's the point in the extradition thing?? Is the DEA that much afraid of him?? You gotta understand the man if he's being un-american, he will be extradited for something legal in his country!! There is definitely something fishy about all this...