EMERY EXTRADITION A TOUGH SELL

Marc Emery is not the easiest person to defend -- in court or on the
street. The self-styled Prince of Pot is not always likeable. In
interviews he seems a trifle pompous and a little too
self-righteous.

In fact, sometimes he's every bit as self-righteous in his defense of
marijuana as some of his detractors are in their demonization of him
and his evil weed.

And surely he's just a bit opportunistic. He knew that setting up a
mail order business selling cannabis seeds to Americans as well as
Canadians was an act that invited police attention -- particularly in
the United States, which continues to fight on in the "War on Drugs."
It is a war that puts almost as much emphasis on eradicating marijuana
distribution as on cocaine and heroin trafficking. It is a war started
by Richard Nixon in 1971 and one which continues unsuccessfully to
this day.

Even the top general in this war agrees: U.S. Drug Czar Gil
Kerlikowske http://gawker.com/tag/gilkerlikowske/ noted earlier this
month: "In the grand scheme, [the war on drugs] has not been
successful."

Meanwhile, Emery, 52, one of the "kingpins of the drug world" as
American law enforcement calls him, was driven from a Metro Vancouver
jail to the Washington State border on May 20. There, he was handed
over to U.S. authorities and later appeared in U.S District Court in
Seattle.

First arrested in the U.S. in 2005, Emery was indicted by a Seattle
grand jury on charges of marijuana conspiracy and money laundering
charges.

On Thursday, Richard Troberman, Emery's attorney, said his client will
plead guilty to the conspiracy count in exchange for the five-year
sentence. It is not yet known if Emery will be permitted to do his
time in a Canadian jail.

Emery had fought extradition for years, but earlier this month,
federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced his decision to send
Emery to the U.S.

Before his arrest, Emery claimed to have made $3 million a year with
his mail-order marijuana business. Unlike some of our citizens, he
faithfully paid his taxes - federal and provincial. Every year and on
time. Not surprisingly, some people are convinced that the tax revenue
Emery coughed up each year played a part in the fact that federal and
provincial governments paid him little attention.

Until, that is, the Americans got their knickers in a knot and decided
Emery was single-handedly ruining American morals by operating such a
wicked and sinful business.

Not a few Canadians were bemused by the U.S. request to have him
extradited. Surely extradition is something reserved for murderers,
pillagers and the like.

But no, the Americans wanted their kingpin of the drug world and as of
last week, they've got him.

From the beginning, Emery has, of course, been making a political
point. He has stated, loudly and often, that he believes the sale,
distribution and consumption of marijuana ought to be legal.

He has never made any attempt to hide his mail order seed business.
Nor did he ever run his Cannabis Culture store out of the back of a
truck in a dark alley. Instead, it sits there openly on West Hastings
Street and the website at the time of this writing is still in operation.

In other words, Marc Emery has been extradited to the United States
for something that isn't quite a crime in Canada.

It will be a lovely irony if he serves his sentence in Canada for the
something that isn't exactly a crime in Canada.

Yes, it is tempting to regard the Marc Emery saga as a joke, something
Paul Gross could have fun with. Maybe a sequel to his new movie
Gunless (ignore the critics, go see it, it's funny) -- perhaps titled
Smokeless.

Yet there is something very serious here, regardless of whether a
person is for or against the sale and use of marijuana. We all, as
Canadians, ought to ask ourselves if we want any of our citizens,
whether or not we approve of their actions, extradited to another
country for a crime that isn't a crime here at home.