ANOTHER INFRINGEMENT ON OUR SOVEREIGNTY

Some of you may know of Mark Emery, a.k.a. the Prince of Pot, and his
very public campaign against his unconstitutional extradition to the
United States.

Mr. Emery is, or rather was, a tax paying resident of Vancouver, BC
for 16 years. He was also the owner of a marijuana seed distribution
company, a pot legalization activist, publisher of Cannabis Culture
magazine, founding member of both federal and provincial Marijuana
Parties, and ran for Vancouver city mayor on several occasions

The Prince does not grow, clip, bag, and sell copious quantities of
marijuana. He simply sells seeds through a legitimate taxpaying
company, an activity that has been permitted by the RCMP and Vancouver
City Police for over a decade.

Recently, however, the US Government has waged war against Mr. Emery
classifying him as one of the largest drug dealers on the continent.
If one seed is equal to one pound of marijuana as per regulations put
forth by the U.S. justice system then Emery, by their standard, is
responsible for exporting millions of pounds of marijuana to the
United States. For this reason, he has been a target of the American
"War on Drugs" since 1995.

On Thursday, May 20th Mr. Emery was extradited to the United States
where he faces five years in prison for activities that were conducted
on Canadian soil and condoned by the Canadian government.

Emery's fate rested in the hands of Conservative MP and Minister of
Justice, Rob Nicholson. The unwarranted extradition of one of our
fellow Canadians only happened because our Justice Minister permitted
it.

This accession by Nicholson raises many questions such as: "What good
is a Justice Minister who promotes such a double-standard when it
comes to foreign and domestic policies regarding marijuana?, What good
is a Justice Minister so out of tune with Canadian values and so
willing to fall to American influence and pressure?, Why should anyone
place any faith in a man unwilling to protect taxpaying Canadian
citizens from an abomination of a policy like the American war on drugs?".

All I can say or do is express my extreme displeasure with his
decision via letters to his office which leaves me feeling somewhat
helpless and skeptical of my government's ability to stand up for
Canadian sovereignty.

This is not about marijuana and its legality, but Canadian
sovereignty. Last week, we lost a little more of that precious
possession to our southern neighbours.

Thank you Justice Minister Nicholson for setting another backward
legal precedent.

Rob Maciak is a current MSc Environmental Science student with a
background in political science