EMERY PUSHES POT-STIRRING HABIT

Marc Emery rubs some people the wrong way. And that's precisely his
intention. Yesterday afternoon, Emery showed up on the front steps of
London police department headquarters and lit a marijuana cigarette --
or in his words, a "giant bomber" -- that he then passed among about
75 onlookers.

Rub.

As others fired up joints and pipes and pot smoke swirled toward
police headquarters, Emery claimed that smoking pot is not only legal,
but morally and ethically right.

"Marijuana does not impair," he told the crowd. "Marijuana
enhances!"

Rub rub rub.

Emery was here as part of his self-described Summer of Legalization
cross-country tour, which has included stops in Winnipeg, Regina and
Calgary. Today, he heads to Hamilton. On Saturday, the former owner of
the City Lights Book Shop (he left London 11 years ago) plans to speak
at Queen's Park in Toronto.

Emery's tour revolves around a recent Ontario Court of Appeal
decision, which ruled against overturning a precedent-setting Ontario
Superior Court decision that cleared a teenager of marijuana
possession charges. The Superior Court judge ruled there is no current
ban on possessing pot in Ontario, because the federal government
failed to comply with a July 2000 court order to create a new law
dealing with the drug.

Under proposed new federal laws, possession of up to 15 grams of pot
- -- enough for about 20 joints -- would be a minor offence carrying no
criminal record. Police forces in Ontario have said they won't lay
charges for possession of less than 30 grams of pot until the laws are
clarified.

Yesterday, I didn't see a single police officer emerge from the
headquarter's front door during the 90-minute demonstration. But
though he wasn't charged by London police (he has been charged in six
other cities), Emery insists damage is still being done.

"Even though there was no marijuana law in effect in 2002, we had over
50,000 charges laid (in Canada)," said the fast-talking activist
during an interview before the Dundas Street demonstration. "And
that's staggering. There's no other civil rights violation as massive."

Emery says about two million Canadians have been charged with
cannabis-related offences in the last 35 years, and that this
so-called "pogrom" has harmed countless Canadians.

"When we incarcerate people for marijuana and take a person away from
their family, we're doing incalculable harm," he said. "We spend
billions of dollars and we give police incredible authoritarian power
. . . causing a generation or two to never trust the police.

"Where does Canada benefit by any of these laws relating to
marijuana?" he asked. "We don't. There's no benefit."

But isn't Emery just a selfish pothead who wants nothing more than to
get stoned?

"Even if I'm some hedonistic pothead, I shouldn't have to suffer
jail," said Emery. "And even if that were true, it doesn't validate
the fact that the majority of Canadians who don't smoke marijuana are
responsible and explicitly supportive of our oppression."

Rub, rub, rub.

Emery argues legalizing marijuana would bring the government more tax
revenue and put criminal traffickers out of business. And because of
his crusade, some call Emery a civil-rights crusader.

I see him as a guy who's dedicated his life to rubbing our faces in
things we'd rather ignore.

When he was 20 years old, Emery had a vasectomy because he didn't
think he could devote enough time to properly raising children. (Rub.)

In 1984, he helped found the Freedom Party of Ontario, but left in
1990 because he said Canada would be better off without any
government. (Rub.) In 1991, he protested a London city bylaw
prohibiting sidewalk signs. (Rub.) He condemned the public school
system as "prisons for children" and taught his stepchildren -- now in
their 20s -- at home. (Rub.)

In 1992, he tried (unsuccessfully) to get arrested for selling
literature about marijuana. The same year, as part of his attempts to
overturn Canada's obscenity laws, Emery was convicted of selling
banned copies of an album by the rap group 2 Live Crew. (Emery
received a conditional discharge and 12 months probation.)

And yet yesterday, the 45-year-old rabble-rouser admitted he earns
$300,000 a year from his Vancouver-based mail-order marijuana seed
business -- and pays $144,000 in annual taxes on that declared income.

"But you know what?" he said. "I'm grateful to pay (the taxes). You're
talking to a guy who's had his money used against him in five raids,
13 jailings and 17 arrests.

"And I still believe Canada is the greatest place on
earth."

Rub, rub, rub.