'PRINCE OF POT' PROUD OF BUST

'If I Were The DEA, I Would Have Targeted Me, Too'

SASKATOON - Canada's "Prince of Pot" says he's surprised it took the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration so long to investigate his
Internet business that 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," Marc Emery told 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. His business partners, Gregory Keith
Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, are also charged.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has filed a request with Canada that all
three be extradited to Seattle to stand trial. The charges carry
penalties of 10 years to life in prison.

Emery, who has been arrested 22 times and jailed 17 times, faces an
extradition hearing on Nov. 5.

During an 18-month investigation, the DEA traced the marijuana seeds
Emery sold over the Internet to illegal marijuana crops in Indiana,
Florida, California, Tennessee, Montana, Virginia, Michigan, New
Jersey and North Dakota. An estimated 75 per cent of the seeds Emery
sold were transported to the United States.

Emery is well known in Canada as publisher of Cannabis Culture
magazine and leader of the BC Marijuana Party. He claims to have made
more than $3 million annually through his Internet business, which he
says stocked the largest supply of marijuana seeds in the world.

About 100 people gathered in front of Saskatoon's City Hall on
Saturday afternoon to show their support for Emery and listen to his
views 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 smoking a fat joint.

"But if you have no money, what can you do? Lawyers are expensive and
we need money to defend ourselves."