Canada - Fight Against Marc Emery's Extradition to the U.S.

[Powder_Reality]

As you many know, Canadian marijuana activists Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams will be facing an extradition hearing on January 21st.

On July 29, 2005, Emery and two of his employees (Rainey and Williams) were arrested by Canadian police at the request of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration for selling marijuana seeds through his mail-order business. If Emery, Rainey and Williams are extradited to the United States and tried in a U.S. court, the charges they face will garner them a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

It should be pointed out that all three of them are Canadian citizens who have never set foot in the United States once in their life, and the crimes that they allegedly commited were done so on Canadian soil. Selling marijuana seeds is technically illegal in Canada, but the law is rarely enforced. The BC Supreme Court precedent for selling marijuana seeds is a $200 fine. That means that if these three activists are extradited and tried in the United States, they could face up to life in prison for something that would garner a $200 fine in Canada.

This whole situation was clearly a politically motivated move and the United States had no right to come into our country and arrest 3 of our citizens in an attempt to force their drug laws on us. We are a sovereign country and have our own laws regarding marijuana, marijuana seeds, and drugs in general. The Canadian police acted like puppets for the DEA, and should be ashamed for doing so. We need to fight against this extradition and let our government (and the U.S. government) know that we are not going to stand around and let this shit happen.

Here is a list of things that we can do to help fight against this extradition (taken from Emery's Cannabis Culture website):

No Extradition to the USA for Canadian cannabis activists!
Four Things You Can Do To Help

Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams (the BC3) are Canadian citizens who were heavily involved in anti-prohibition activism in Canada for more than ten years. The United States is attempting to extradite these Canadian cannabis activists to the US – a country they’ve never been to – and stand trial to face up to life in US federal prison. This is an insult to Canadian sovereignty and citizens’ rights.

Here are four things that anyone can do to help prevent the BC3 from being extradited. Don't read this list and do nothing – please take action and urge everyone you know to do the same. This is a crucial battle about sovereignty, freedom, and ending the drug war – a battle we must win.

1) Contact the Canadian Justice Minister Constantly!

Canada's Justice Minister is currently Robert Nicholson of the Conservative Party. It is largely his decision whether Canada will extradite the BC3, and that decision could come in the next few months or years. No matter where you are in the world, please contact the Justice Minister every week – we definitely need consistent vocal and written support from Canadians, Americans and the international community. Weekly phone calls, faxes, and handwritten letters that are polite and concise are effective political pressure. The goal is to keep the Justice Department aware of the BC3 and the opposition to the extradition. Always be very polite, and say it would "shock your conscience" for Canadians to be extradited to the United States, a country they never went to, especially when the alleged crimes would not receive a jail sentence in Canada – and, if they have broken the law in Canada, they should be tried in Canada. When sending a letter, ask for a response from the Justice Minister.

Phone: (613) 957-4222
Fax: (613) 990-7255

Mailing Address:
The Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0H8

2) Contact The Media

Please contact the following newspapers with a new letter every week, or every month. Send a short letter under 200 words that offers quick facts about the American efforts to extradite the BC3, why you oppose it, and why others should too. Don't send mass emails to all of the media, but email each individually. Write letters about the extradition, or respond to an article that relates to marijuana. A number of Canadian newspaper emails are listed here, but a complete list of media outlets is available thanks to the Media Awareness Project at www.mapinc.org/resource/email.html


National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Globe & Mail: letters@globeandmail.ca
Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com
Victoria Times Colonist: letters@tc.canwest.com
Vancouver Courier: editor@vancourier.com
Burnaby Now: editorial@burnabynow.com
Calgary Herald: letters@theherald.canwest.com
Calgary Sun: callet@calgarysun.com
Edmonton Journal: letters@thejournal.canwest.com
Edmonton Sun: mailbag@edm.sunpub.com
Regina Leader-Post: letters@leaderpost.canwest.com
Hamilton Spectator: letters@thespec.com
Kamloops this week: ktw@bcnewsgroup.com
Kamloops Daily News: kamloopsnews@telus.net
Kelowna Capital News: edit@kelownacapnews.com
Langley Advance: editorial@langleyadvance.com
Langley Times: newsroom@langleytimes.com
Lethbridge Herald: letters@ac403.com
London Free Press: letters@lfpress.com
Montreal Gazette: letters@thegazette.canwest.com
Ottawa Citizen: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com
Ottawa Sun: oped@ott.sunpub.com
Saskatoon Star Phoenix: spnews@SP.canwest.com
Toronto Sun: editor@tor.sunpub.com
Victoria News: vicnews@vinewsgroup.com
Whitehorse Star: letters@whitehorsestar.com
Winnipeg Free Press: letters@freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg Sun: editor@wpgsun.com
Windsor Star: letters@thestar.canwest.com

3) Contact your Member of Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly

If you are in Canada, then contact both your MP and your MLA by phone, mail, and email. Try to make an appointment for a personal visit for even more impact. Ask your representative to voice public opposition to the extradition requests. Tell your MP and MLA that Canada should not be sending Canadian activists to face life imprisonment in foreign countries when the accused persons never went to the requesting country and the accused crimes are not considered to be a jail-worthy offence in Canada. Remind them that the Canadian Government knowingly collected taxes from Marc Emery’s seed sale income for a decade, and that Marc Emery is the leader of a legitimate political party, operated business openly and honestly, dealt only with consenting adults, caused no harm, kept no weapons or drugs, and once received a monetary fine for selling cannabis seeds in Canada – not prison, which the US seeks. Find your MLA at the following websites and your MP at www.parl.gc.ca


BC: www.leg.bc.ca/mla/
Alberta: www.assembly.ab.ca
Saskatchewan: www.legassembly.sk.cas
Manitoba: www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/members
ON: electionsontario.on.ca/fyed/en/form_page_en.jsp

Quebec: www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/Membres/index.html
Newfoundland: www.hoa.gov.nl.ca/hoa/members
Nova Scotia: www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/MEMBERS
PEI: www.assembly.pe.ca/members/index.php
NB: app.infoaa.7700.gnb.ca/gnb/pub/ListMLA1.asp

4) Rally in your community

If you are in Canada, then try to put on a rally in your community to protest this incursion of the US Drug War into Canada. The focus of your rally should be that Canadians within Canada are not subject to US law and should not be extradited. US consulate offices are a good place to rally at, as are Canadian government buildings, and even parks and downtown areas. Please contact us at the BC Marijuana Party and Cannabis Culture Magazine to let us know what you are up to, and we can help promote your event. Use your rally to demonstrate that Canadian courts have decided selling marijuana seeds is a trivial offence that nets a fine, not prison time, and the Canadian government steadily collected sizable taxes from Marc Emery's seed sales for over 10 years. If Emery has broken the law in Canada then he should be charged and tried in Canada. If he has not broken laws in Canada then he should absolutely not be extradited to the US for a life sentence in US prison.

Send mail to “No Extradition” 307 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, V6B 1H6, Canada

[Felonious Skunk]

Emery may have broken Canadian law, but the Canadian government was quite happy to collect taxes on the money that was the product of that law-breaking and in that respect shouldn't it be a co-defendant in this case?

No doubt this acquience to the Amerikan government is the result of some backroom threats to Canada's fiscal well-being, and its citizens should try to discover exactly what those threats were.

[AquafinaOrbit]

/\Or it is just that America has been a long time ally with Canada and often though of as Canada's body guard and as such both nations would like to keep that going. Honestly, it sucks for them, but they committed the crime of selling to Americans that lived in America. It is the same as if you shoot someone in America and kill them but live in Canada. The fact remains you killed on American soil or in this case sold in American soil and as such are under American law.

[Powder_Reality]

Emery may have broken Canadian law, but the Canadian government was quite happy to collect taxes on the money that was the product of that law-breaking and in that respect shouldn't it be a co-defendant in this case?

Revenue Canada knowingly collected taxes from Emery's seed business for a decade and apparently had no moral objection to it. On top of that, Emery already had to pay a $50,000 bail after his arrest, which is like paying the average fine for selling seeds in Canada 250 times.

Or it is just that America has been a long time ally with Canada and often though of as Canada's body guard and as such both nations would like to keep that going. Honestly, it sucks for them, but they committed the crime of selling to Americans that lived in America. It is the same as if you shoot someone in America and kill them but live in Canada. The fact remains you killed on American soil or in this case sold in American soil and as such are under American law.

I'm sorry but this is nothing at all like killing somebody. We are not talking about murder, we are talking about selling marijuana seeds; selling seeds for a plant that is quite possibly one of the most benign and harmless drugs in existence.

Yes, Canada and the United States are long-time allies, but that doesn't mean that they should have control over each other's laws. They are both sovereign countries with their own laws and should not be able to influence each other's separate drug policies. The U.S. can't expect to explain their actions by saying "We were just trying to keep things calm and fair between us."

By the way, you'll find that the majority of Canadians can't stand it when people refer to the United States as our "bodyguard"; it's a very ignorant point of view and reminds me of that infamous moment when Ann Coulter made the comment on Fox News that "They [Canada] are lucky we allow them exist on the same continent." I realize that America's army is probably one of the most (if not the most) powerful army on the planet, and maybe we are privileged to be allies with such a powerful country. However, Canada has their own separate army and is not completely reliant on America's. On top of this, Canada isn't exactly a country that needs a lot of manpower in their army. We don't start many conflicts in the world as compared to the United States, although we do tend to have to back them up sometimes; case in point: Afghanistan and Iraq (however this is a completely different debate/argument and I don't want to get too heavy into it for this post)

The crimes that Emery and his employees allegedly committed were not done so on American soil. As I stated before, none of them have ever even been to the United States before. The crimes they are being charged with were committed on Canadian soil, and therefore they should be tried in Canada. The United States is attempting to nail Emery for other crimes as well (in an attempt to lengthen the sentence), including "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana" and "Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering"; neither Emery nor his employees have ever been involved in these crimes.

You can't honestly tell me that it's justifiable for the United States to come into Canada and arrest three of it's citizens for a crime that was committed on Canadian soil (a crime that would garner a $200 fine in Canada) and attempt to extradite them into an American courtroom where they could face a possible life sentence for the same crime. This isn't just about the extradition case; it's about protecting the freedoms of Canadian citizens and protecting Canada's national sovereignty.

[AquafinaOrbit]

It is not the same as killing someone because you think killing is wrong and selling seeds is not, however according to American law selling seeds in this amount can be nearly as serious of a crime. The point is not wether you think it is right or wrong, the point is that he sold those seeds to AN AMERICAN, ON AMERICAN SOIL and as such is punishable by American law. (Say you used a sniper to shoot an American in America while you are on the Canadian side of the border, sure the gun was fired in Canada, but it killed in America)

As for the bodyguard comment, many people may not like it but in some regards it is true. Canada has been able to focus much of its economic intrest on other areas due to the fact that if they were ever attacked America would be no more then a couple hours south of helping defend their soil. SWIY think if Canada was in the middle east or in South America they could afford to spend so little on a military and still feel safe from their neighbors?


Personally my dog has nothing against growing pot, or selling seeds and he thinks American law is fullish for this punishment. But insulting many Canadian and American officials for simply carrying out their job is absurd. If SWIY want to fight anything, fight his very extreme punishment, not the fact that he is being punished at all for breaking a law.

[jkolt89]

The US government needs to worry less about seeds crossing the border and more about terrorists that are crossing the border every day!

[AquafinaOrbit]

Yeah, but they love getting people like this because then they can finally say, "Hey, look we have spent millions on this drug war but we are starting to see progress.".

[Powder_Reality]

It is not the same as killing someone because you think killing is wrong and selling seeds is not, however according to American law selling seeds in this amount can be nearly as serious of a crime. The point is not wether you think it is right or wrong, the point is that he sold those seeds to AN AMERICAN, ON AMERICAN SOIL and as such is punishable by American law. (Say you used a sniper to shoot an American in America while you are on the Canadian side of the border, sure the gun was fired in Canada, but it killed in America)

The fact that selling seeds in the United States has the same penalty as killing someone should be your first clue that this law is bullshit to begin with and should be fought against anyways. And it's not the same as killing someone quite simply because it just isn't the same as killing someone. I can see the point you're trying to make, but comparing murder to selling cannabis seeds is a terrible analogy. Emery did not take someone's life, he sold seeds for a benign (albeit illegal) plant. And it really doesn't matter where the seeds ended up: the actual crime of purchasing and selling the seeds was committed on Canadian soil and therefore the trial should be held in Canada. It's essentially Canada's decision whether they stay here or are booted into the United States for the trial; Canada should be trying to protect it's citizens from such a harsh punishment and unjust laws.

As for the bodyguard comment, many people may not like it but in some regards it is true. Canada has been able to focus much of its economic intrest on other areas due to the fact that if they were ever attacked America would be no more then a couple hours south of helping defend their soil. SWIY think if Canada was in the middle east or in South America they could afford to spend so little on a military and still feel safe from their neighbors?

I have heard this argument so many times that it starts to get nauseating after a while. In some regards this may be true, but Canada has never really needed much manpower in their army because we don't make military threats to other countries. If anything, Canada has had to back up the United States much more than the United States has ever had to back up Canada.

And if Canada was located in the Middle East or South America, it would be a very different country with a very different political agenda anyways. It's not a fair argument to compare Canada to a completely different geographical location that has completely different political agenda.

But this really has nothing to do with the original post anyways so I'm just going to stop arguing about the Canadian and U.S. armies and get back to the original debate.

Personally my dog has nothing against growing pot, or selling seeds and he thinks American law is fullish for this punishment. But insulting many Canadian and American officials for simply carrying out their job is absurd. If SWIY want to fight anything, fight his very extreme punishment, not the fact that he is being punished at all for breaking a law.

So your dog agrees that the law is ridiculous to begin with, correct? Just to make it clear, I'm protesting both the extreme punishment and the fact that they're being punished so heavily for breaking such an unimportant and ridiculous law; a law that is hardly ever enforced in Canada and shouldn't be enforced in the United States.

I stand by my original statement about the Canadian and American officials who carried out this arrest. Maybe it's not fair to single out the working officials who were"just following orders", but the fact remains that the Canadian police did indeed act as a puppet for the United States DEA and I believe that this was a shameful move on their part. And if we have to get specific, I guess the people I'm targetting here would be the head officials who agreed to allow the arrest to happen. It just plain shouldn't have happened.

[entheogensmurf]

If someone from the USA sold an illegal item to a person in Canada would Canada have the legal power to have USA arrest and send the person to CannuckLand for prosecution?

Originally Posted by AquafinaOrbit

It is not the same as killing someone because you think killing is wrong and selling seeds is not, however according to American law selling seeds in this amount can be nearly as serious of a crime. The point is not wether you think it is right or wrong, the point is that he sold those seeds to AN AMERICAN, ON AMERICAN SOIL and as such is punishable by American law. (Say you used a sniper to shoot an American in America while you are on the Canadian side of the border, sure the gun was fired in Canada, but it killed in America)

Personally my dog has nothing against growing pot, or selling seeds and he thinks American law is fullish for this punishment. But insulting many Canadian and American officials for simply carrying out their job is absurd. If SWIY want to fight anything, fight his very extreme punishment, not the fact that he is being punished at all for breaking a law.

Great job invoking the Nuremberg Defense concept. Derr, they are only mindlessly following orders.

Sooo lets use the wonderful Rosa Parks example:
Should she have been arrested or not? She broke the law. It sounds like you follow the law like a dog to his master's command. Good job.

[AquafinaOrbit]

As I said before, I personally have no problem with selling seeds in America, and swim certainly does not just mindlessly follow the law. All I am trying to say here is he sold plants to Americans that were still living in America, as such that falls under American law. Combine that with the fact that America and Canada are such great allies and it is pretty easy to see why they are trying to work together.

Personally, I think American law is near approaching communism with a Free Enterprise Economy to try and cover it up. The point of my post though is not my beliefs, it's simply that as with any other crime, America and Canada are great allies and as such it makes sense that they agree to punish people accordingly to which nations laws the acts were committed under.

[Powder_Reality]

It's true that Canada and the United States are close allies, but that doesn't make the arrest justifiable. As I stated before, this trial isn't just about selling marijuana seeds; it's about protecting the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens and protecting Canada's sovereignty.

Since Canada and the United States are such close allies, they have an extradition treaty between them. Because of this, a fugitive in Canada can be arrested on the request of American police if he is accused of committing a crime in Canada. All that is required is a foreign warrant to be presented to a Canadian judge.

However, guidelines state that the crime must be an offence in both Canada and the United States and that the penalty must be at least 2 years in prison. Selling marijuana seeds in technically an illegal act in both countries; but even though the penalty is over 2 years in the United States, it is only a $200 fine in Canada. Besides that, the law is hardly ever enforced in Canada and the government knowingly collected taxes on the sale of those marijuana seeds for 10 years. Obviously they had no problem with his business because it was a completely harmless business and generated lots of revenue for them.

On top of this, the guidelines also state that the crime should not be political in nature, with the exception of violent crimes (such as bombings, kidnappings, etc). The arrest was clearly a politically motivated move, and therefore it should never have happened. If you don't believe that it was a politically motivated move, just check out this official statement from DEA administrator Karen Tandy:

Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group -- is a signficant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement.

His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.

Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General's most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets -- one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canda. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.

If you want to see the official document, you can find it here: http://www.cannabisculture.com/library/images/uploads/4685-tandystatement.jpg

As you can see, the arrest was clearly an attempt to bring down the marijuana legalization movement in Canada. Since Marc Emery is the biggest name in anti-prohibition and pro-marijuana activism in Canada, it stands to reason that he would be a major target of the DEA.

[AntiAimer]

Sucks, because he will more then likely die in some nasty horrid jail cell...and for what???

[Police Officer]

Originally Posted by AquafinaOrbit

/\Or it is just that America has been a long time ally with Canada and often though of as Canada's body guard and as such both nations would like to keep that going.

I've never heard of the US's and Canada's relationship as being thought of in such a way. Do many people have the same point of view?

Originally Posted by Felonious Skunk

Emery may have broken Canadian law, but the Canadian government was quite happy to collect taxes on the money that was the product of that law-breaking and in that respect shouldn't it be a co-defendant in this case?

I agree. I say put it before a grand jury.