POT PRINCE BLESSES HERBAL AFFAIR

Marc Emery Gives Hardcore Puff Fest Much Needed Political Edge

Seed seller Marc Emery fears he won't see Canada again if
he's extradited to the U.S on drug charges.

Thousands upon thousands of tokers are demonstrating the normalization
of cannabis at the Saturday, May 5, Global Marijuana March and fest
with some hardcore puffing.

On the surface, the event may look like it lacks political muscle.
Attendees have showed up on the north lawn of Queen's Park to spread
blankets, fire up their favourite bong and openly inhale with their
friends to the sounds of Ill Scarlet.

But the presence of Prince of Pot Marc Emery, facing extradition for
selling pot seeds stateside, as lead parade marshall helps ensure the
smokefest's hard edge. Emery's canna-celeb cachet has enthusiasts
asking for photos and autographs. Here are 20,000 people proving they
aren't criminals but a marijuana marketplace requiring regulation and
taxation. Pre-march, vendors in the park get lots of excited
attention. The Toronto Hash Mob hangs out at the tent of Vapor
Central, a new pot cafe on Yonge that's offering festival-goers the
lung-saving vapour toking experience. We're running the Herbal Aire
and Volcano Vaporizer models back to back like a Coke vs. Pepsi taste
test.

This is accomplished by passing bags of THC vapour with wipeable
spouts around the eager audience so they can feel the difference from
normal inhaling. It's a sales pitch, too, so they'll rent a vaporizer
in the tent for their own bud at $5 a pop.

Passing or sharing marijuana is trafficking, but here's a new legal
twist what if the evidence is disappearing into the lungs on the spot?

Too bad the city festival permit hanging in the booth's corner doesn't
allow us to sell Toronto Hash Mob brand marijuana. Until that day, dry
stoners should look for the person, not the booth, playing Bob Marley.
According to Emery, Marley is universal code for pot dealer.

In his pre-parade speech, the Prince offers good tidings: his
forthcoming five-day extradition hearing scheduled to begin May 28 in
Van for himself, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams has been postponed
due to a defence lawyer's scheduling conflict. New dates haven't been
set, but come the trial, everyone's geared for cross-Canada vigils at
U.S. consulates.

"If I'm extradited to America, you will not see me back here alive,"
Emery says about the need for political action.

Canadian courts aren't ruling on whether a crime has been committed,
but on whether there's enough evidence to extradite the three. Emery's
defence is asking the court to determine if the punishment stateside
is too harsh compared to the slap-on-the-wrist weed seed selling
brings here. That's a decision the Supreme Court of Canada might have
to make.

However, public outrage can keep the minister of justice, whoever that
is when the time comes, from autographing the extradition papers.
That's where we come in.