Marc Emery and Loretta NallMy mentor and very close friend Marc Emery is on a farewell tour of Canada before he turns himself in at the US/Canada border on September 19 and pleads guilty to trafficking marijuana. He is expected to spend at least five years in a US Federal prison.
For those of you unfamiliar with the case The Drug War Chronicle has a great piece on it today. Please read and leave your comments.
Marc never actually sold marijuana in the US and, for all practical purposes, never sold actual marijuana at all. He sold seeds. From Canada. And was arrested by our wonderful "Land of the Free" government, courtesy of your US tax dollars. Don't that make you proud to be an American? We have so few real problems and dangerous criminals here in the good ol' USofA that we can afford to expend our resources arresting citizens of other countries for selling seeds. It's political and Marc Emery will be a political prisoner.
With the millions of dollars Marc made selling seeds he funded the marijuana movement all across the globe. And that's why the DEA arrested him. For being an outspoken advocate for changes in the marijuana law and for pumping millions of dollars into agitating the government in a peaceful, non-violent way. DEA chief Karen Tandy admitted as much in the press release about Marc's arrest in 2005.
I am planning to organize a Free Marc Emery gathering on Sept. 19, possibly in Birmingham. I'll post more details about that as things come together. I'll also be writing more in the coming days on my relationship with Marc through the years, how much he means to the movement and to me and what we can all do to try and get the Canadian government to let him serve his time in a Canadian federal prison instead of a US federal prison.
1 comment:
5 years for selling seeds on the internet. ABSURD!
This is typical of our court system. The prosecutor stacks charges the max to use as a bargaining chip. 5 years doesn't look so bad when they threaten you with life. You don't dare risk a trial. Plus, they just want to make an example of Marc. This may backfire and he could become the poster child for the extremeness of the prohibitionists.
Post a Comment