PRINCE OF POT SAYS HIS EMPIRE IS CRUMBLING

Marijuana activist Marc Emery says about a dozen of his employees have fled
their jobs or been laid off since he was arrested and held for extradition
to the United States.

The so-called Prince of Pot says there are only five or six paid employees
left at his magazine, store and TV program.

He said the workers who left were afraid of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency, which ran an undercover operation against his marijuana
seed-selling business.

"All three people who are the graphic artists on the magazine kind of ran
off," he said outside the courthouse. "The reason is when the DEA says your
boss is the No. 1 crime kingpin around the world, when I'm bigger than the
Hells Angels, when they make me sound like the most important person, it
makes people nervous."

Emery, Gregory Keith Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, who
are all out on bail, made brief appearances in court with their lawyer,
John Conroy.

Outside court, Emery, who is charged with selling seeds to U.S. grow-ops
and money-laundering, said the group needs more legal help but is strapped
for cash.

"We'd like to have four or five lawyers on our case but they charge on
average of about $300 an hour," he said. "Three lawyers to show up in court
for an afternoon would cost approximately $3,000.

"Substantially, the money raised [so far], the $10,000, got eaten up on
legal bills, used up in the first week getting bail."

Emery, Williams and Rainey-Fenkarek next appear in court Sept. 16.