BAIL AT $50,000 FOR POT ADVOCATE

Lawyer For Marc Emery Says Canada's Blind Eye Turned Back By U.S.

VANCOUVER - Canadian justice officials can't turn pot activist Marc Emery
over to the United States to face possible life in prison after ignoring
his sale of marijuana seeds in this country for nearly a decade, his lawyer
said Tuesday.

"For nine years he's been doing this quite openly," John Conroy told a news
conference after Emery was granted bail. "They've known about it, the local
authorities haven't done anything about it."

Emery is accused of selling seeds out of his bookstore in downtown
Vancouver and over the Internet. He also runs Cannabis Culture magazine and
is the leader of the British Columbia Marijuana Party.

Conroy said Emery has long had tacit permission from Canadian authorities
to sell seeds, adding that people who are allowed to possess pot for
medical conditions have been directed to the Internet by Health Canada to
buy seeds.

"Many of those people contacted Marc Emery through his website," said
Conroy, who is well-known for defending people facing marijuana-related
charges. "Here we have a situation where they turn a blind eye locally and
now they're in a position of assisting the U.S. to try to have him
extradited to the U.S. where the penalties are substantially greater than
here."

Bail was set at $50,000 for Emery, who faces a sentence of 10 years to life
in prison if convicted in the U.S. The pot paraphernalia store that Emery
runs was raided on Friday by Vancouver police after a warrant was issued at
the request of U.S. justice officials.

In granting Emery bail, Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm of B.C.
Supreme Court said he can continue his political work for the Marijuana
Party, which is fighting for the legalization of pot. He will also be
allowed to work at his bookstore and at Cannabis Culture magazine.

Emery's co-accused, Greg Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, were also
granted bail. They face charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana,
conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and conspiracy to engage in money
laundering.

The U.S. wants the trio extradited after they were indicted by a federal
grand jury in May following an 18-month investigation by American police
into the sale of marijuana seeds on the Internet and by mail.

Emery's wife, Cheryl, sat in the front row of the court during Emery's
appearance. He blew kisses and winked at her reassuringly. Supporters, who
regularly come together in festive rallies to support Emery's political and
legal causes, packed the gallery seats around his wife. Some were in tears,
but they laughed at a lawyer for the U.S. when accusations against Emery
were read.

Kirk Tousaw, the Marijuana Party's campaign manager, said Emery is being
targeted for his beliefs.

"Virtually all the money from the seed sales went into political activism
in Canada and the U.S. That's exactly what drew the ire of the Drug
Enforcement Administration," Tousaw said after the hearing. "There are many
seed sellers in the U.S. and Canada. You see Marc Emery being targeted
because he's a political activist, the leader of a political party. It
should shock the conscious of all Canadians that he would be deported to
face unjust penalties in the U.S. for something that in Canada he wouldn't
even get jail time for."