JAIL TIME SHOCKS POT PRINCE

A marijuana activist known as the Prince of Pot was sentenced to three
months in jail Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of
trafficking.

Marc Emery seemed stunned after Saskatoon provincial court Judge
Albert Lavoie pronounced the sentence.

"Three months for one joint?" he asked the gallery before a bailiff
scolded him, telling him he wasn't allowed to have contact with the
gallery.

It was Emery's 11th drug-related conviction, but the first time he has
been sent to jail. He'd received fines for his previous offences.

Heading into court, Emery was pessimistic about his chances of getting
off with a fine.

"Saskatchewan probably is the least progressive and most punitive
province in the country when it comes to sentencing," he said. "I'm
scared, I'm nervous, and I've got butterflies."

Emery, a well-known marijuana seed dealer who founded the B.C.
Marijuana Party and Cannabis Culture magazine, was arrested at the
Vimy memorial bandshell on March 22 following a pro-pot speech at the
University of Saskatchewan.

Crown prosecutor Frank Impey told the court that between 20 and 30
university-aged people showed up at the bandshell with Emery. A
witness interviewed by police confirmed seeing Emery pass one joint,
but no money changed hands.

Emery produced four marijuana cigarettes containing a total of 2.3
grams when searched by police.

Impey conceded the amount of marijuana in question was small, but
emphasized Emery's 10 prior drug offences warranted more than a
suspended sentence or a fine.

"Mr. Emery has been fined in the past and his behaviour continues,"
said Impey, who suggested a term of three to six months.

Leanne Johnson, Emery's lawyer, said her client was making a political
statement and he did not profit from passing the joint.

Johnson also argued that the public attitude toward marijuana has
changed, noting Prime Minister Paul Martin plans to reintroduce
legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug.

But Lavoie cut her off.

"I'm not here to discuss the pros and cons of marijuana," he
said.

Lavoie said his job is to uphold the laws of the land until such time
as they are changed.

"No democratic society can have any freedoms unless the underlying
value is respect for the law," he said.

"(Emery's action) was in a public setting, with an absolute,
unacceptable flaunting of the law of this country, deliberately done.
In that respect, Mr. Emery has overstepped the bounds of the
fundamental basis of our society."

Outside the courthouse, Emery's supporters fired up their pipes in
protest.

"That's pot, that's marijuana. I'm sorry, dad," said Alecia Iwanchuk.
"This man does nothing wrong."

"It's seriously ridiculous that somebody should be going to jail at
all for (passing) a joint," added Mike Schmidt, who was at the Vimy
Memorial when Emery was arrested.

Johnson told reporters Lavoie was right to take Emery's prior record
into account, but took issue with the length of the sentence.

"We're looking at an extremely low-end crime here," she said. "When
the country is looking at decriminalizing a substance, to impose a
sentence of three months on a person for passing one joint of that
substance to another individual is absolutely extreme."

Johnson said an appeal is unlikely, given that it often takes three
months before the Court of Appeal hears a case.

Impey disagreed the sentence was excessive.

"This particular sentence would not be imposed on someone without the
aggravating circumstances that were present today," he said. "The
court emphasized the administration of justice and the criminal record."