EMERY APOLOGIZES FOR 'NAZI-JEW' REMARK

Website continues to compare 'marijuana people' to Jewish Holocaust victims

VANCOUVER - British Columbia marijuana crusader Marc Emery apologized
Wednesday for referring to federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler as a
"Nazi."

Emery, the 47-year-old "Prince of Pot" who faces potential extradition to
the United States for selling marijuana seeds, has compared the persecution
of people involved in marijuana culture to that experienced by Jews under
the Nazi regime.

"I feel ashamed when my Jewish friends tell me they are ill at ease by my
using the terms Nazi or Holocaust when referring to this issue or incident,"
Emery, who once wrote a biography of a Holocaust survivor, wrote Wednesday
on his website cannabis.com.

It was in the "jail blog" he wrote from a Saskatoon jail last summer that he
called Cotler a "Nazi-Jew." In an interview last week, he reiterated he
thought Cotler was acting like a Nazi, although he explained his use of the
term "Nazi-Jew" was reflective of the high regard he has for Jews and his
expectation they, after enduring persecution, would have sympathy for what
he calls the systematic persecution of marijuana smokers.

Wednesday, he wrote that his view has now been turned around and he believes
the Nazi vocabulary is not appropriate.

"I apologize to the honourable minister, Mr. Cotler," he wrote, adding, "I'm
going to stop using the term Nazi or Holocaust in any future discussions in
print or interview because it does really offend some people, and making new
enemies or offending ordinary, thoughtful Canadians is not useful to anyone
or any legitimate ideas."

Yet, later in the day, Emery posted another comment on his website comparing
the experiences of Jews and "marijuana people."

"In Germany -- it eventually became a job requirement and career booster to
murder Jewish people. Now it's becoming a job requirement and career booster
here in Canada and the U.S.A. to abuse and jail marijuana people, with new
laws coming all the time; just following orders." In a telephone interview,
he explained, "I'm not saying ours is a holocaust like their Holocaust. I'm
saying that specific instance is a parallel. Because there are parallels."

B'nai B'rith legal counsel David Matas said last week that despite Emery's
"totally inappropriate" and "wildly over the top" language, he did not
believe Emery was an anti-Semite.

"I don't think this guy is in that business," Matas said.