the latest on Marc Emery

Mikey · 09-11-2010, 05:49 PM

From 'Prince of Pot' to 'Prince of Prison'

Quote:

SEATTLE — Vancouver’s Marc Emery has gone from “Prince of Pot” to prison pauper with a five-year U.S. prison sentence for mailing marijuana seeds south of the border.

The 52-year-old cannabis activist spent part of the first night of his sentence holding hands with his wife Jodie, during a two-hour Seattle jail visit.

“He gets very emotional when he thinks of being away from me for so long,” Jodie, 25, said Saturday.

“He said that when he comes back to Canada, if he’s not allowed smoke cannabis, he won’t, and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t miss it — he just misses me and wants to get home.”

Emery was slapped with the five-year jail sentence in a plea-bargain deal after fighting for more than five years to avoid a U.S. prison term.

Jodie said her husband was pleased that District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez agreed to a defence recommendation that Emery be transferred to a prison in Canada to serve his sentence.

“His application for transfer was dropped off at the Canadian consulate, so that will soon be at [federal] Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ desk and he can approve it almost immediately,” she said.

“Marc will likely be moved to a different institution somewhere in the U.S. in four to six weeks. He’ll still be called the ‘Prince of Pot’ but some people have joked about him being the “Prince of Prison” and things like that.”

Until he is moved to Canada, Emery hopes to serve his time at a minimum-security prison in Lompoc, Calif., but he could also be sent to a jail in Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas or New Mexico.

If Emery does get a treaty transfer to Canada, he could be on day parole as early as next summer and full parole by November 2011, said Jodie.

The couple has been married since July 2006.

Jodie said she keeps from getting depressed by staying busy running Emery’s store, his online magazine, answering emails and working on her political career with the B.C. Green Party.

She said her husband will pass the time behind bars writing an autobiography and working on a Canadian voters’ guide to the federal election.

“Marc’s always been a very positive person and that helps me, too, because I know that nothing comes from being worried or depressed,” she said.

“When he’s released he wants to focus on me getting elected or on my campaign.”

Since he turned himself in to U.S. authorities in May, Emery has been held in a prison on the outskirts of Seattle, said Jodie.

“He’s a computer guy, so the guards ask him to refill the ink in the printer and fix the paper jams,” she said. “He helps a lot of other inmates with the visitation forms and setting up their phones. He helps Hispanic inmates with writing letters to the judges and with their paperwork.”

Jodie said she has been able to visit Emery twice a week.

“It’s a big room that can fit about 125 people, kind of like a cafeteria with knee-high plastic tables, and we have to sit across from each other,” she said. “We get to have a hug and a kiss when we first meet — you get 30 seconds to have a greeting — and a hug and a kiss when he leaves. And throughout the visit we’re allowed to hold hands but we’re not allowed to touch each other in any other way.

“It’s wonderful to lean in really close to him and we just gaze at each other and talk for the whole time.”

When Emery was sentenced in Seattle Friday, he got a tongue-lashing from U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg.

“This is a very serious sentence for a very serious crime,” said Greenberg. “At the time of this investigation, Mr Emery was the largest distributor of marijuana seeds in North America.”

He said Emery sold millions of marijuana seeds which were grown into millions of plants in the U.S.

Emery sold the seeds by mail order and telephone to anyone who placed an order, “regardless of their age, regardless of their criminal association and criminal past,” Greenberg added.

He accused Emery of selling seeds to “grow houses” throughout the U.S. and dismissed Emery’s claim that he was being prosecuted for political reasons.

“It’s not a surprise that some of the grows that he supplied had firearms and booby-traps awaiting law-enforcement officers,” said Greenberg. “He essentially was adding fuel to this fire, the growing problem of violence surrounding marijuana grow-ops.”

Martinez told Emery that regardless of the debate over whether Emery should be jailed, “the fact of the matter is that under the current law, there’s no question that your actions were illegal and criminal.”

In a letter to the judge, Emery wrote: “Jail is a cruel and lonely place and I regret that my actions have brought me here. I admit that I was arrogant in flouting United States law.”

dinwood@theprovince. com
© Copyright (c) The Province

Read more: From 'Prince of Pot' to 'Prince of Prison'

OldMan&TheWeed · 09-11-2010, 08:46 PM

I never agreed with Marc Emery's in-your-face way of presenting the pro-legalization cause (see him in National Geographic's "Marijuana Nation" to see what I mean). Still, he's not a criminal nor he has hurt anyone. He's on our team. It hurts to see him suffer thus.

Mikey · 09-11-2010, 08:48 PM

when he got busted he had 11 dollars in his bank account

he spent every single dime he made from selling seeds to advance the pro-marijuana movement

myxomatosis · 09-12-2010, 05:01 PM

Pretty unfortunate that this was allowed to happen.

SmokeaJoint · 09-12-2010, 05:10 PM

I really didn't think the Canadian gov was going to allow him to be jailed. That sucks, the man never did harm to anyone and they hit him with 5 anyways. He was facing life though, so I guess that its better than that.

cantSEEme · 09-12-2010, 07:25 PM

with americas draconian marijuana laws, and how emery was so outspoken on the subject, this was bound to happen. he is the self-described "prince of pot", has been on numerous articles, television shows, rallys, & online forums, and if the us gov was to choose anyone to make a point, emery was it.

it is truly sad to see him up for any kind of bid over something so ridiculous as selling plant seeds online, and is also really pathetic for the prosecuting DA in this case to make a soapbox out of it, but it's not like anyone with a small amount of knowledge of the pot-community didnt see this coming, even before his legal woes.

free m. emery
free eddy lepp
free anyone whos locked up for nothing

Purd Hupley · 09-13-2010, 04:40 PM

He called out the big bully on the block, and I'm pretty sure he knew it could come to this. But the actual living it is something that's hard to prepare for.

I saw the NatGeo thing, too and I was unimpressed with his performance, although I've seen him on other shows where he was lucid and extremely well- spoken. Frankly I'm a fan of his and I think he has done fantastic work. I hate to see him where he is and can only hope he's able to get out sooner rather than later.

He's a great wordsmith, and a lot of great writing has come from being imprisoned. I prefer no one be a "martyr" for this cause, but I think it was Jefferson who said the tree of liberty sometimes has to be fed by the blood of patriots. That's true for any cause.

I pray his time will be as easy as it can be.

Mikey · 09-14-2010, 07:54 AM

i smoked a communal doobie with him on a few occasions on cannabis day at the art gallery in vancouver, and in his cafe and vapor lounge

he's a really cool cat who's dedicated his life to the cause

Lloydy · 09-15-2010, 05:08 AM

Thats absolutely ridiculous, I know a lad who killed a bloke and he done less than that.

09-11-2010, 08:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
OldMan&TheWeed been there done that Join Date: May 2006 Location: The West Posts: 2,281 Thanks: 294 Thanked 800 Times in 406 Posts	I never agreed with Marc Emery's in-your-face way of presenting the pro-legalization cause (see him in National Geographic's "Marijuana Nation" to see what I mean). Still, he's not a criminal nor he has hurt anyone. He's on our team. It hurts to see him suffer thus. __________________ Nintey-three percent of what I say is brilliant, factual information and seven percent is complete bullshit. Have fun deciding which is which.

09-11-2010, 08:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mikey Seasoned YaHookan Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: gulf islands bc Posts: 7,443 Thanks: 1,144 Thanked 2,246 Times in 1,475 Posts	when he got busted he had 11 dollars in his bank account he spent every single dime he made from selling seeds to advance the pro-marijuana movement __________________ RIP Gov

09-12-2010, 05:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
myxomatosis life is music Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: between a pair of headphones Posts: 3,917 Thanks: 1,026 Thanked 934 Times in 597 Posts	Pretty unfortunate that this was allowed to happen. __________________ oh sometimes the blues is just a passing bird and why can't that always be tossing aside from your birches crown just enough dark to see how you're the light over me last.fm blog deal (updated 12/22/11)

09-12-2010, 07:25 PM	#6 (permalink)
cantSEEme Cold School Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,019 Thanks: 152 Thanked 127 Times in 457 Posts	with americas draconian marijuana laws, and how emery was so outspoken on the subject, this was bound to happen. he is the self-described "prince of pot", has been on numerous articles, television shows, rallys, & online forums, and if the us gov was to choose anyone to make a point, emery was it. it is truly sad to see him up for any kind of bid over something so ridiculous as selling plant seeds online, and is also really pathetic for the prosecuting DA in this case to make a soapbox out of it, but it's not like anyone with a small amount of knowledge of the pot-community didnt see this coming, even before his legal woes. free m. emery free eddy lepp free anyone whos locked up for nothing __________________

09-14-2010, 07:54 AM	#8 (permalink)
Mikey Seasoned YaHookan Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: gulf islands bc Posts: 7,443 Thanks: 1,144 Thanked 2,246 Times in 1,475 Posts	i smoked a communal doobie with him on a few occasions on cannabis day at the art gallery in vancouver, and in his cafe and vapor lounge he's a really cool cat who's dedicated his life to the cause __________________ RIP Gov

09-13-2010, 04:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Purd Hupley YaHookan Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Pacific Northwest Posts: 222 Thanks: 1 Thanked 90 Times in 57 Posts	He called out the big bully on the block, and I'm pretty sure he knew it could come to this. But the actual living it is something that's hard to prepare for. I saw the NatGeo thing, too and I was unimpressed with his performance, although I've seen him on other shows where he was lucid and extremely well- spoken. Frankly I'm a fan of his and I think he has done fantastic work. I hate to see him where he is and can only hope he's able to get out sooner rather than later. He's a great wordsmith, and a lot of great writing has come from being imprisoned. I prefer no one be a "martyr" for this cause, but I think it was Jefferson who said the tree of liberty sometimes has to be fed by the blood of patriots. That's true for any cause. I pray his time will be as easy as it can be.

09-15-2010, 05:08 AM	#9 (permalink)
Lloydy KTF Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: England Posts: 11,976 Thanks: 533 Thanked 2,478 Times in 1,139 Posts	Thats absolutely ridiculous, I know a lad who killed a bloke and he done less than that. __________________ Keep the red flag flying high

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