POT ACTIVIST HAS COPS SMOKIN'

In-Your-Face Protester Headed Here After Being Arrested By Calgary Police

Fresh from a brief detention by Calgary police yesterday, Marc Emery is
headed for the steps of Edmonton's downtown police headquarters today with
weed in hand.

The Vancouver-based pot activist is calling this season "the summer of
legalization."

"I'd say this summer there have been the fewest number of arrests for
possession of marijuana as there has ever been for 35 years. And that's
because there's confusion among law enforcement about the real status of
marijuana," the pot activist said in an interview before Calgary cops
arrested him for toking up outside their headquarters yesterday.

He was released from custody after about 15 minutes, and is set for a first
court appearance Sept. 10.

COUNTRYWIDE CAMPAIGN

Emery has been smoking pot in front of cops all over the country, with
mixed reactions. So far he's been read his rights in Calgary, Regina,
Winnipeg - where he was put in leg irons - Moncton and St. John's, Nfld.
Police in Halifax, Toronto and Charlottetown have left him alone.

Edmonton police have said they likely won't respond to the stunt, which is
planned for 4 p.m. today. Emery doesn't know if that will change after
Calgary's response.

"There are a lot of courts to be heard from yet, but currently there is no
cannabis in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and several courts have
validated that," Emery said.

He says the officer who arrested him yesterday told him, "You may be right,
but we've been instructed to arrest you."

"You have quite an opportunity here, is what I'm trying to point out to all
these various jurisdictions. If the government would just accept that
marijuana's legal - as it is - then they can proceed to make it safer for
all Canadians and create a win-win situation."

Last fall a Senate committee recommended legalizing pot after concluding
it's "substantially less harmful than alcohol."

An Ontario court ruled in January there are currently no laws against
possession of small amounts.

Emery predicts the federal government will "introduce a package to
re-criminalize marijuana" sometime this fall, but hopes the Supreme Court
will overturn it in a decision expected over the winter.

BATTLE SHAPING UP

"It's going to be a battle - and even if we win it'll still be a battle,"
he said. "Parliament will always try and criminalize people's lifestyles."

His cross-country smoke breaks have attracted as few as 12 and as many as
200 supporters in other cities. Although he never issues press releases,
word gets out.

Alberta Marijuana Party leader Dave Dowling said his group's board will be
at the Edmonton protest, and volunteers have been distributing posters
around the city.