POT PRINCE SPARKS U.S. IRE

Surely it should come as no shock to Marc Emery that the anti-drug warriors
in the United States federal government take marijuana laws far more
seriously than their Canadian counterparts do.

Emery, after all, bills himself as the "prince of pot," makes a living
selling marijuana seeds over the Internet, and leads the British Columbia
Marijuana Party.

A sound working knowledge of drug laws would seem to be essential to his
survival.

Equally, it should have come as no surprise to him that the U.S. applied
for his extradition after a grand jury indicted him for conspiracy to
distribute marijuana by mail in the United States and conspiracy to launder
money, or that the RCMP then arrested him on a warrant signed by a B.C.
judge, and raided his offices in Vancouver.

Emery's girlfriend, Cheryl Redick, has declared it "outrageous that the
U.S. be allowed to ... interfere with our laws." But that's not what
happened. The United States simply exercised its rights under its
extradition treaty with Canada, and Canada is fulfilling its obligations.

It's true if Emery is extradited and found guilty in a U.S. court, he could
get 10 years to life in prison, which sounds pretty draconian. But that's
the law, and U.S. authorities have every right to be as tough as they like
about keeping pot out of their country.

As Canada moves toward decriminalizing marijuana possession - a move we
support - we can expect to see the United States get increasingly
aggressive about closing its border to Canadian dealers. Canada might,
therefore, want to renegotiate some clauses of our extradition treaty with
the United States, so Canadian citizens don't risk long prison sentences
for doing something that's regarded lightly here.

Until then, however, Canadian entrepreneurs should beware.