'PRINCE OF POT' DOING OK IN GEORGIA JAIL, WIFE SAYS

Marc Emery has been transferred from the West Coast to a prison in Georgia.

Vancouver's "Prince of Pot" was shipped last week to the D. Ray James
Correctional Facility in Folkstone, Ga., a low-security federal prison that
holds mostly non-U. S. citizens.

"He's doing all right," Emery's wife Jodie told The Province on Monday.

"He is only one of six Canadians with about 700 Mexicans in there. He finds
it very lonely. The hardest part is being isolated from people who speak
English."

The couple had expected the longtime marijuana activist to serve his
five-year sentence in a federal institution in California, "but the [Bureau
of Prisons] has changed it to send me as far away from you as possible,"
wrote Emery, 52, in a Nov. 17 letter to Jodie posted on his prison blog.

The transfer was "quite a surprise because it's the furthest possible you
could get from here," said Jodie, who plans to fly to Florida then drive to
Georgia on Dec. 3 to visit her husband.

According to various prison forums, the 2,900-capacity jail used to have a
reputation for danger and violence -- prompting concern from some supporters.

"I'm just shocked he was sent to a facility that has a reputation for being
a tough prison," said Norm Grant Smith, co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana
Party. "Marc has always been a role model for non-violence."

Jodie said: "It's not the violent dangerous state prison it was once, but
because it's brand new there's no way to know what it's like," adding Emery
has only described the prison as "chaotic" and "disorganized."

Emery is serving a U.S. prison term for mailing marijuana seeds south of
the border. He will apply for a transfer to serve his sentence in a
Canadian jail.