'PRINCE OF POT' PREPARES FOR EXTRADITION BATTLE

The "Prince of Pot" says he's surprised it took the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) so long to investigate his Internet
business, which sold hundreds of thousands of marijuana seeds to
Americans for 11 years.

"They claim I'm responsible for seeds that produced 1.1 million pounds
of marijuana worth $3 billion. So, if it's true, I'm so happy about
that," said Marc Emery, while speaking at a Saskatchewan Marijuana
Party rally in Saskatoon on Saturday. "If I were the DEA, I would have
targeted me too."

Emery, 50, is charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to distribute
marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and conspiracy to
engage in money laundering. Emery's business partners, Gregory Keith
Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, are also facing the same
charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of
Washington has filed an extradition request with Canada asking that
all three defendants be brought to Seattle to stand trial. The charges
carry penalties of 10 years to life in prison.

"I'm probably guilty as charged and because I'm the largest marijuana
producer in the history of the American criminal justice system,
according to the DEA, that would be 200 or 300 years in jail," Emery
told reporters at the Saskatoon Public Library. "To me, anything over
15 years is a death sentence because the average person dies in prison
at 65."

Emery, who has been arrested 22 times and jailed 17 times, faces a
hearing on Nov. 5, when a judge will decide whether or not to
extradite him to the U.S., where he will stand trial.

About 100 people gathered in front of Saskatoon city hall on Saturday
afternoon to show their support for Emery and to hear him speak on
government, police and the legalization of marijuana.

Longtime pot crusader Grant Krieger, who was recently jailed on drug
trafficking charges, came from Calgary to hear Emery speak and to look
for donations.

"If a person has a lot of money to pay for a lawyer and use the legal
system, they can change it," said Krieger, while sucking back on a fat
joint. "But if you have no money, what can you do? Lawyers are
expensive and we need money to defend ourselves."

Krieger suffers from multiple sclerosis and is one of the only people
in Canada allowed to cultivate and possess cannabis to alleviate his
pain. But the problem with his constitutional exemption, he says, is
that he can't find any home insurance or get a mortgage because
companies are afraid he will burn his house down with his
marijuana-growing equipment.

Krieger was convicted in March of two counts of drug trafficking after
two packages containing 801 grams of marijuana were sent by the Grant
Krieger Compassion Club to Manitoba for distribution to people with
similar neurological problems.

Emery, who potentially faces life imprisonment in the U.S., is
optimistic.

"I'm very proud of what I've done, but I don't fear the consequences
of taking on the Goliath of the U.S. federal government," he said.
"It's going to be tough, miserable and not in my favour, but I love
this war I'm in."