'PRINCE OF POT' AWAITS EXTRADITION TO U.S.

VANCOUVER - Canada's self-proclaimed "Prince of Pot" was escorted out
of B.C. Supreme Court and into jail yesterday to await extradition to
the United States, where he is to serve up to five years in prison for
shipping marijuana seeds across the border.

Marc Emery, 51, was indicted in 2005 along with two associates on drug
and money-laundering charges stemming from a lucrative mail-order
pot-seed business run out of Emery's Vancouver book and paraphernalia
shop, which also doubled as B.C.'s Marijuana Party
headquarters.

Two charges Emery faced -- conspiracy to distribute marijuana and
conspiracy to engage in money laundering -- were dropped in exchange
for his guilty plea on the charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

He has agreed to a five-year imprisonment plea bargain in connection
with his $3-million-a-year marijuana seed catalogue business, whose
customers were mostly American.

Canadian authorities drew criticism for helping the United States nab
Emery because he openly participated in an operation that drew little
heat in Canada.

Emery was convicted in Canada of selling pot seeds in 1998 and given a
$2,000 fine.

Emery's two associates, Michelle Rainey, 38, and Gregory Williams, 54,
were recently sentenced in the United States to two years' probation
for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana as a result of a plea deal.

As Emery left the tiny courtroom, his wife, Jody, wept in the public
gallery while a crowd of the cannabis crusader's followers chanted:
"Free Marc Emery!"

As he was led away, he yelled: "I love you Jody Emery. Plant the seeds
of freedom; overgrow the government!"

Emery will be held for 30 days to give him time to appeal and then,
once the federal justice minister has signed the removal order, Emery
will be handed over to the United States.

Now dubbed the country's first "marijuana martyr," Emery recently
wrapped up a 30-city "farewell tour" across Canada.

He is hoping a transfer agreement allowing Canadians convicted and
jailed in the United States to serve their time back home will play in
his favour.

"The same seeds I sold are being sold right in America.... There's a
terrible hypocrisy at work here," said Emery. "There isn't a single
victim in my case, no one who can stand up and say, 'I was hurt by
Marc Emery.' No one."