VISITING AMERICANS RALLY AGAINST MARIJUANA PARTY ARRESTS

VANCOUVER - All the cliches of a marijuana demonstration were there:
the Hackey Sack games, tie-dye T-shirts and small clouds of smoke
floating above the crowd of about 200 people.

What wasn't to be expected at yesterday's rally to protest the arrest
of three B.C. Marijuana Party members was the support it received from
visiting Americans.

Party leader Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, financial agent for
the party, and Gregory Williams, an employee of Pot-TV, all face U.S.
charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, distribute seeds and
engage in money laundering.

Friday's arrests came at the request of the U.S., which wants the
three extradited for trial. A conviction carries a sentence ranging
from 10 years to life in prison.

Mr. Emery was arrested by the RCMP on Friday in Nova Scotia and was to
spend the weekend in a Halifax-area jail before being returned to Vancouver.

Nick Frey, who was visiting from Los Angeles stumbled across the
protest while walking through the "pot block," a city street that
houses mostly marijuana-themed stores.

"I resent my (government) for infringing on Canadian policy," he said.
"It's not my problem because I don't smoke pot, but people should be
alarmed. People should be able to do what they want to do."

Nebraskan Scott Tanner echoed the sentiment. "Our government has
overstepped its bounds" by requesting the arrests of the Canadians, he
said. "Whatever happens on this side of the border, it's none of our
business."