AMERICA'S MOST WANTED

Marc Emery Embarks On A Possible Farewell Tour Across
Canada

Vancouver-based marijuana advocate Marc Emery was busted by the RCMP
in July of 2005, as the result of an extensive investigation conducted
by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Now, the self-proclaimed
"Prince of Pot" is still facing extradition to the United States for
selling millions of marijuana seeds across the border from his
Vancouver-based business. If convicted in the States of all charges,
he may spend the rest of his life in jail.

In the meantime, the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party and editor of
Cannabis Culture magazine is out on bail, touring Canadian university
campuses in an attempt to draw support for the pro-marijuana movement
and talk about his own legal battles. He is paying a visit to Montreal
next week, speaking at McGill and Concordia University. Emery spoke to
the Mirror from his Cannabis Culture office in Vancouver about legal
fights, drug busts and Canadian Republicans.

Mirror: What exactly are you going to be speaking about when you visit the
campuses?

Marc Emery: Well, it will be called my "farewell tour," because many
Canadians may never see me again. If I get extradited to the United States
for 35, 40 years, or life without parole--as would seem likely--then they
should hear what I have to say before I get taken away or surrendered by my
own country to the Nazified, corrupt, rogue government of the United States.

M: What do you think about the Harper government's stance against
decriminalization?

ME: I think they'd like to arrest more people. The Conservatives are
like Darth Vader and the Evil Empire. They hate us. They want to put
us all in jail. Vic Toews, the new Justice Minister, wants mandatory
jail sentences for anyone who sells pot or grows pot. It would
immediately add thousands and thousands of people to jails. [The
Conservatives] are determined to exterminate the cannabis culture in a
way that is far more extreme than the Liberals wanted, and the
Liberals were pretty bad. Arrests are at an all-time high in the
United States and Canada, despite all the talk about it being "legal"
or "semi-legal" or "tolerated."

Republicans In Canada!

M: What is the strongest motivation in your fight for
legalization?

ME: There are at least a quarter-of-a-million people in jails across
the world for cannabis, and that is the most outrageous human rights
violation in the whole world. You've got millions and millions of
people running, hiding, being jailed, arrested, charged, humiliated,
strip-searched and beaten up by police--all for a peaceful and honest
lifestyle choice. It's like rounding up a quarter-of-a-million
vegetarians, Christians, Muslims or homosexuals. It is simply absurd
that anyone should go to jail for marijuana, but in the year of 2006
we are going to see more people arrested than ever before.

M: What makes you think that?

ME: It's the new government. You can see it on the horizon. There are
more raids, more hostile talks against us and there's more
collaboration with the U.S. government. The Conservatives are
Republican stock at heart. People in Alberta are not really good
Canadians in my opinion. Most Albertans are Republicans who would love
to join the United States and be free of the rest of Canada. It shows
by the people they vote for. If Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney and that
guild can get 60 or 70 per cent of the vote in Alberta, those aren't
loyal Canadians in my opinion. Those are Republican Americans helping
in the takeover of this country.

M: What was your reaction to the Heaven's Stairway bust in Montreal,
where over 200,000 seeds were confiscated from a seed-retailing business?

ME: Those guys weren't doing anything wrong. These people were made to
sound like criminals by the police department, but they had been
operating legitimately like I had for years and years--registered as
an official business, paying taxes and what have you. It's just a part
of the crackdown that's going on across the country. The police are
now emboldened by the election of the Conservatives. For them, it's
open season on pot.

M: What are some legal strategies that would encourage the
decriminalization of marijuana?

ME: Join the NDP. Join any political party and start influencing their
position on prohibition. That's the only strategy. Young people
typically stay away from politics and that's a big mistake because
young people are more commonly victimized by the drug war. Every young
person who smokes marijuana or appreciates freedom or civil liberties
or believes in a free society should join a political party to keep
those political parties in tune with our point of view on
prohibition.

Emery will speak at McGill on March 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Stephen
Leacock Building (805 Sherbrooke W.) Room 123 and at Concordia on
March 24 in the Henry F. Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve W.) Room
110 at 4:20 p.m.