A BORING NARCISSIST

Marc Emery should stop smoking so much marijuana. It appears to be
making him paranoid with delusions of grandeur.

The man, affectionately dubbed by himself and others as the Prince of
Pot, went to the media Tuesday to assert a claim that the City of
Vancouver is out to get him.

According to Emery, his recent business-license applications were
rejected for reasons that involve -- and we're not making this up --
the 2010 Olympics.

The Prince says the city denies this claim, but he knows
otherwise.

"This is totally related to the Olympics," Emery said Tuesday.
"They're just nervous to show the culture of what Vancouver is really
like to the world." Oh, really.

There are aspects of this city our officials might not want the world
to see but it's hard to believe anyone has given more than a second's
concern to the image of Emery and his acolytes smoking a few fatties
during a protest outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The homeless, the bad weather, the traffic, the obvious lack of dog
parks . . . now those are black eyes for the city. But Emery and his
clowns puffing on some primo chronic, well, fact is, no one gives a
damn.

Emery was convicted of drug trafficking in 2004. He insists he was
merely passing a joint and that the city is using his criminal record
as a way to block his business license applications.

On that point, he may have something.

Emery, who has been in and out of trouble with the law in Canada and
the United States, is not the kind of businessman likely to seek the
presidency of the Vancouver Board of Trade. Therefore, it is not
outside the realm of possibility the city would look at legal ways to
prevent the Prince from doing business here.

In turn, Emery can pursue his own course of action through the
courts.

But this is not about the Olympics.

This is about a shameless, boring self-promoter with a criminal record
and an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

Period.