PRINCE OF POT WILL RUN MARIJUANA PARTY FROM PRISON

Political Expert Says Extended Prison Term May Hurt Party's
Effectiveness

Marc Emery will stay on as president of the B.C. Marijuana Party while
in prison.

The pot activist announced earlier this week that he plans to plead
guilty to one of three drug-related charges against him--one count of
distributing marijuana--in a Seattle courtroom in August. He will
likely be sentenced in September or October.

Despite the possibility that he'll be in prison for anywhere for three
to six years, Emery said he can continue to run the marijuana party.

"It'll be affected by my absence but I'll still be president and party
leader," Emery said.

He said the party will keep on as it has, supporting the Green Party
at the provincial level and supporting Green Party and NDP candidates
in the next federal election.

Gary Mauser, who has taught courses on marketing in politics at Simon
Fraser University, said the attention Emery's incarceration benefit
the party.

"Minor parties live and die by the headlines," Mauser said. "The more
headlines they get, the more votes they get."

However, Mauser said, if Emery is in prison for an extended amount of
time it could hurt the marijuana party overall.

"The fact that he's in jail means he can't campaign and he can't be
flamboyant," Mauser said.

According to Emery, his supporters--including his wife Jodie
Emery--are disappointed by his plan to plead guilty but realize it was
the best option. Emery was facing extradition to the United States on
the charges, which relate to a mail-order business selling marijuana
seeds to people in the U.S. and Canada from 1998 to 2005.

He said the prosecutor will probably ask for five to eight years but
his lawyers will try to get a lower sentence. He concedes that he will
probably spend some time in a U.S. prison.

"I'm resigned," Emery said. "I'm just prepping for
everything."

That includes making sure Jodie is prepared to run their business,
Cannabis Culture Magazine, which includes a website, a YouTube T.V.
network called POT-TV and an online store.

Jodie faces a number of challenges, including struggles with the City
of Vancouver over the business' licence. She said she is nervous
because Marc has handled most of the business dealings up until now.
"He understands all that," Jodie said. "Whereas I need a little
encouragement to not get dismayed."

But mostly she is upset at the thought of losing her partner even
though she understands why he intends to plead guilty.

"I'm spending a lot of time trying not to think about it," she told
the Courier. "But I'd rather have him back in five years than not
seeing him again."

Jodie plans to run in the next federal election on behalf of the Green
Party in Vancouver South, against current MP Ujjal Dosanjh. She was
the Green Party candidate for Vancouver-Fraserview in the B.C.
provincial election of May 2009, but lost to Liberal Kash Heed, who
was appointed solicitor general Wednesday.