JUST SAY NO TO UNCLE SAM'S DEA

Washington wants to take over the prosecution of those who flout Canada's
marijuana laws. Ottawa should tell it to butt out, says law professor ALAN
YOUNG

By ALAN YOUNG

On July 27, in Halifax, RCMP officers arrested Marc Emery, Canada's
self-styled "Prince of Pot," after a U.S. federal grand jury indicted him
on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to
distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Mr.
Emery, who ran a lucrative marijuana seed business, may not be everyone's
idea of a hero, but many Canadians are outraged by the Americans waging
their war on drugs within our borders.

There is little doubt that Mr. Emery's seeds found their way into the hands
of eager U.S. pot-smokers, and U.S. drug agents had a legitimate concern
about the prince's business activities. However, this concern should have
led to a request that Canadian police enforce our existing laws to sanction
Mr. Emery. Instead, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency asked Canadian police
to execute a wide-ranging search warrant in Mr. Emery's home town,
Vancouver, and to deliver him and other Canadian marijuana activists to be
prosecuted in the land of mandatory minimum punishments.

From the Canadian perspective, Mr. Emery's constant flouting of our
marijuana laws were tolerated and his activities seen as part and parcel of
our continuing debate over marijuana law reform.

I recognize that the sale of viable cannabis seeds appears to be a crime
both in Canada and the United States, and that there may be a legal basis
for seeking extradition as these seeds found their way onto U.S. soil. But
I'm deeply concerned about subjecting a Canadian citizen to the draconian
laws of a foreign nation when we don't bother charging this person for
violating our laws. A Canadian citizen is now exposed to U.S. drug
sentences which border on cruel and unusual punishment -- for violating a
law we rarely enforce in Canada.

Mr. Emery has publicly boasted about the size of his enterprise ("I sell
four million seeds a year") and the DEA claims that he makes about
$3-million a year from his seed sales.

But the Americans fail to mention that much of this money has been
funnelled into legal challenges, compassion clubs, drug treatment centres
and political activism.

Mr. Emery is not the kingpin of some British Columbian cartel, breaking the
law for personal gain; rather, he is an activist who has flouted the law as
a political statement and in order to acquire resources to change the law.

Had he had been prosecuted and convicted under Canadian law, he would
probably receive a fine and a short prison term. It's unlikely that U.S.
courts will respect or understand the political context of Mr. Emery's
alleged criminality. In many aspects of criminal-justice policy, the
differences between Canada and the United States have grown exponentially.
When we extradite to the United States, we must recognize that we are
sending someone to a very different legal and political culture.

In Canada we have a medical-marijuana program in which patients can
lawfully use marijuana; in Oklahoma, an army vet who grew pot to cope with
his own crippling arthritis was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

In dealing with the Americans, we must take care that mutual legal
assistance does not become legal domination, as has the U.S. war on drugs
in Latin America. The DEA's pursuit of the Prince of Pot isn't the first
instance of Canada's deferring to U.S. drug-law enforcement policy.

One summer day in 2004, an off-duty Vancouver policeman was driving near
Hope, B.C., when he was stopped by a Texas state trooper.

Constable David Laing, annoyed by the involvement of Texans on a Canadian
highway, refused to submit to a random drug search.

A minute later, he was stopped by another trooper and an RCMP officer, who
did a thorough search (they found no marijuana). Mr. Laing went to his
lawyers; his civil suit was settled out of court.

The Texans later explained that they were taking part in a
training-exchange program with the RCMP. Although the Texas program is
unconstitutional by Canadian standards, our law enforcement officials were
somehow convinced that there was much to be learned by letting U.S.
officials violate the rights of Canadians on Canadian soil.

Imposing American values, including attitudes towards drugs, on the global
village can only harm the U.S. in the long-term, by fuelling a growing
anti-American sentiment.

In the case of the Prince of Pot, I hope that Canada's Minister of Justice
will exercise his discretion to block this extradition if a court finds the
request to be technically proper.

At a minimum, Irwin Cotler should refuse to extradite unless an undertaking
is provided that Mr. Emery won't be subjected to the cruel minimum
sentences if convicted in a U.S. court.

Mutuality dictates that the Americans show some respect for our legal and
political values, as we do for theirs.

But we must show backbone to resist U.S. efforts to enforce their drug laws
on our soil.