EMERY WORRIED ABOUT LEGAL FEES

Pot Activist Says Donations Not Enough

VANCOUVER -- Marijuana advocate Marc Emery says Canadians have donated
money to him in drips and drabs of $5 and $10, but his legal fees to fight
extradition to the United States are mounting quickly.

Mr. Emery spoke outside court yesterday, where he and his co-accused,
Gregory Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, made an appearance
to set their next court date.

In past appearances, supporters jammed the courtrooms and waved signs
outside. But there were notably fewer people in attendance yesterday.

Mr. Emery said he needs more money to pay for legal fees to fight charges
of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute
marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

U.S. officials want Mr. Emery extradited from Canada to stand trial in
Seattle, where conviction on either of the marijuana charges carries a
minimum prison term of 10 years.

Mr. Emery, who calls himself the world's most recognizable leader of
cannabis culture, said he will either disappear or be killed if he faces
the U.S. justice system.

He also claims that despite giving away $4-million over the past 10 years,
he kept no money for himself. The politicians and others he once donated to
have not given back, he said.

"The wealthy, famous and the well-off don't help. They don't understand
what it's like to be in this position," Mr. Emery said.

"The people who often will do something are the people who can least afford
to help you. They understand suffering. They understand what having your
back against the wall is."

The three accused were arrested after an 18-month investigation by the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agency. Vancouver police searched Mr. Emery's Vancouver
apartment and RCMP made the arrest in Halifax.

Mr. Emery, 47, said he has been taking in donations of $5 to $10 with a
vast majority of help coming from Canadians.

Americans have been afraid to donate to his cause, Mr. Emery said, because
they fear any show of support, either in a phone call or e-mail, will
result in surveillance from the DEA.

More than 75 per cent of the customers who purchased marijuana seeds from
his mail-order business are from the United States.

In court, lawyer John Conroy, who is representing all three co-accused,
said the defendants are facing financial hardship.

Employees who worked for Mr. Emery's marijuana enterprises, including a
store, a magazine and his television show, have either quit because they
feared arrest themselves or have been laid off. Volunteers are continuing
to help run the operations.

Mr. Emery is set to return to court on Sept. 16.