HYPOCRISY WEEDS OUT PRINCE OF POT

Cosmetic pesticide use was banned in Vancouver Jan. 1,
2007.

But the sale of pesticides wasn't banned. So as long as you promise
the sales-clerk at your local garden shop or big box store that you're
intending to use that bottle or box of chemicals anywhere but in the
soon-to-be greenest city in the world, you can make your purchase and
leave.

That sales-clerk has no way of knowing if you plan to use those
pesticides in Vancouver or in a municipality where the toxic chemicals
are also banned. It makes me wonder if there would be any
repercussions should the purchaser of those chemicals be busted using
them illegally and the package was traced back to a Vancouver store.

I'm confident nothing would happen because as I mentioned earlier,
it's not against the law to sell pesticides in Vancouver. And what if
pesticides with a Vancouver-based price tag were found in the home of
a Washington State resident living in a jurisdiction where the ban
also exists? Would the Vancouver seller be hauled south of the border
to face charges of dealing in an illegal substance? I doubt it. And
should Washington officials attempt to extradite a Canadian citizen
for selling a product legally available in Vancouver, I would hope our
government officials would stand up and say no way.

Which brings me to Marc Emery.

Emery was busted in 2005 for selling marijuana seeds to Americans
through his Vancouver-based mail order business. According to the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agency, Emery likely sold millions of the seeds,
which they say translates into millions of pot plants, a figure I
heartily dispute as the unsuccessful grower of anything beginning with
a seed.

After fighting for more than five years to avoid jail time in an
American prison, Emery took a plea bargain and began a five-year
sentence last Friday. The Prince of Pot wasn't busted by Canadian
authorities for selling his product in Vancouver, but instead by a
country where selling pot seeds is considered a crime worthy of five
years in a federal penitentiary. Emery and his defence team are
fighting to have him serve his sentence in Canada, which is only fair,
considering the Canadian authorities should have never allowed his
extradition for a "crime" for which he never would have been busted if
he'd kept his seeds north of the 49th parallel.

If all goes well, Emery will serve just four to six weeks in an
American federal prison before being transferred back to Canada to
serve out his sentence. Some people now complain Canadian taxpayers
will be stuck financially for keeping Emery in jail for a crime he was
found guilty of in the U.S. But in a city where pot smoking is pretty
much ignored by local cops and government, Emery was made a scapegoat
in the so-called war on drugs, which by the way is now being credited
for the deaths of more than 28,000 people in Mexico since 2006. That's
right, 28,000.

I was saddened to read on the weekend that Emery has promised to quit
smoking pot if that will help get him home. I don't have a lot in
common with chronic pot smokers--I'm too Type A to appreciate their
laid back demeanor, but come on, this is the Prince of Pot. Love him
or hate him, Emery has been fighting to legalize marijuana in Canada
for more than 30 years. But finally our government has broken him. It
took the help of what's considered the most powerful country in the
world, but collectively they finally brought the bespectacled Emery to
his knees.

This Saturday activists from around the world are hosting Free Marc
Emery rallies, including three in Vancouver. For times and locations
go to freemarc.ca.