B.C. POT ACTIVIST TO SPEND WEEKEND IN N.S. JAIL

The leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party will spend the weekend in a
Halifax-area jail before being returned to Vancouver next week.

Marc Emery was arrested by RCMP on Friday, after police in Vancouver raided
his marijuana seed and paraphernalia store.

U.S. authorities requested the raid. They want Emery and two others
extradited to face charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana,
conspiracy to distribute seeds and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

Emery runs a mail-order website that distributes marijuana seeds to clients
in a variety of countries, including the United States.

He spent Friday night in a Halifax holding cell, said Const. Mark Hobeck of
the Halifax Regional Police.

Officials in Vancouver are expected to make arrangements to transfer him to
B.C. early next week. Until then, he will be remanded to another
correctional facility later today.

Emery was in Lawrencetown, N.S., to attend a music festival that raises
funds for the organization, Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana. He had
been scheduled to speak at the event.

Known as "The Prince of Pot", the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party has
been a vocal advocate for the legalization of marijuana.

In 1994, Emery opened a Vancouver-based store called Hemp BC selling
marijuana paraphernalia. Police raided his store in 1996 and again in 1998,
confiscating his entire stock.

After those raids, Emery opened the mail-order business selling the seeds.
He also publishes "Cannabis Culture" magazine and runs "Pot TV" on the
Internet.

He ran for mayor of the city of Vancouver in 1996 and again in 2002, coming
in fifth place.

In 2004, Emery served a 90-day sentence in a Saskatoon jail for passing a
marijuana joint.

Emery's operation on West Hastings houses a hemp shop, a book store, the
headquarters for PotTV and the operations behind an Internet-based seeds
sales company.

According to police, Emery's seed business rakes in about $3 million a year.