EXTRADITION DEAL HITS SNAG

A deal to resolve the extradition fight between Canada's "Prince of
Pot" and U.S. drug authorities has hit a snag, the marijuana activist
said yesterday.

The United States wants to extradite Marc Emery - who founded a
political party and campaigned across Canada to legalize pot - on
charges he illegally sold marijuana seeds from his Vancouver store to
American buyers.

Emery tentatively agreed with U.S. prosecutors in January to plead
guilty in return for the charges being dropped against two other
defendants and he being allowed to spend the bulk of a 10-year
sentence in Canada.

Canada must also approve the deal, but its prosecutors say a Canadian
judge cannot be ordered to impose a U.S. prison sentence of no release
for at least five years that is stricter than Canadian law requires.

"The Canadian government says that's not legal in Canada ... and so
Justice Department in the United States says the deal is not possible
because the Canadians are not playing ball so to speak," Emery told
reporters.

Emery was in court in Vancouver yesterday to set a date for his
extradition trial, but a judge agreed to postpone the hearing until
April 19 to allow his lawyers to continue negotiating with U.S. and
Canadian prosecutors.