'PRINCE OF POT' SURPRISED DEA TOOK SO LONG TO MAKE HIM A TARGET

SASKATOON -- The "Prince of pot" says he's surprised it took the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) so long to investigate his
Internet business that 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 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 Nov. 5 where a judge will decide whether or not to extradite
him to the U.S. where he will stand trial.

During an 18-month investigation, the DEA traced the marijuana seeds
Emery sold over the Internet to illegal marijuana crops in Indiana,
Florida, California, Tennessee, Montana, Virginia, Michigan, New
Jersey and North Dakota. An estimated 75% of the seeds Emery sold were
transported to the United States.

Emery is a well known figure in Canada as publisher of Cannabis
Culture magazine and leader of the BC Marijuana Party. He claims to
have made more than $3 million annually through his Internet business
which stocked the largest supply of marijuana seeds in the world.

About 100 people gathered in front of Saskatoon city hall Saturday
afternoon to show their support for Emery and hear him speak about his
views on government, police and the legalization of marijuana.
Longtime pot crusader Grant Krieger, who was recently jailed on drug
trafficking charges himself, came all the way 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 all 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.

But both Krieger and Emery are surprisingly optimistic, especially
Emery who potentially faces life imprisonment in the U.S.

"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."