JUST SAY NO TO EXTRADITION

Modesty has never been a problem for Marc Emery. But considering
himself a martyr, along the lines of Ghandi, Martin Luther King and
Nelson Mandela, is quite a stretch, even for the so-called Prince of
Pot.

Still, support for Emery in his legal battle to avoid extradition to
the U.S. keeps rolling in - and not just from stoners, green-haired
skateboarders and COPE.

Emery certainly appears to have violated U.S. Law. His website took
orders and shipped a prohibited substance across U.S. borders. And
Americans are fully within their right to seek his
extradition.

The rules of extradition are quite clear that in order to send a
Canadian to the U.S., the alleged offence must also be a criminal act
in this country. And technically speaking, the selling of seeds is
clearly illegal.

So far, it looks like an open-and-shut case. Cries that the DEA
requested raid is a violation of Canadian sovereignty are a crock.
There is no sovereignty issue at stake here. And anti-U.S. sentiments
are hardly grounds to refuse extradition.

So, should Emery be shipped south to face the music?

Absolutely not.

True, the selling of seeds in Canada is a criminal act in the legal
sense. But there is much more to defining what should be considered a
crime than the mere legal aspect. And if extraditing Emery rests on
the basis that his actions also broke Canadian law, the process should
not be allowed to happen.

The conferring of illegality on an act is a legislative process, and
is only one dimension of taking the extreme measure of prohibiting
certain behaviors. To be classified as a crime, the act must also, to
some degree, offend society's morals and values. The considerable
debate on the marijuana issue suggests there is no consensus in this
area.

There is even less support for using the criminal law to sanction
those selling seeds.

Marc's business was known to police and every level of government. For
any number of reasons, they left him alone and gave him room to
operate. This is tantamount to condoning his actions. To come to him
now and argue that he also broke Canadian law and should be extradited
is petty and dishonest. The law prohibiting the selling of seeds may
still be on the books - but it lacks moral authority.

Personally, I oppose the legislation seeking to decriminalize
marijuana. And I'm no fan or friend of Marc Emery. In fact, ten days
prior to his arrest, Marc sent me a colorful e-mail, full of nasty
superlatives, taking issue with a previous column on an unrelated matter.

But this isn't about being soft or getting tough on drugs. This is
about using an antiquated piece of legislation that is ignored by
every law enforcement agency in the country to take down one
particular high profile blowhard.

And that is unacceptable.

Note: John Martin is a Criminologist at the University
College of the Fraser Valley