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

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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

Reputation Comments on this post:

	great activism
	Thank you for this.
	Thank you for bringing this atrocity to our attention. I'll do what I can to help