My very close friend and mentor Marc Emery, Canada's "Prince of Pot" will be sentenced in US Federal Court in Seattle, Washington later this morning. It is expected that the Judge will accept the plea deal and sentence Marc to 5 years in a US Federal prison.
Oddly enough, the former federal prosecutor who prosecuted Marc recently wrote a piece for the Seattle Times admitting that the marijuana laws in this country are unjust, harmful to society, enable the black market, fund violent cartels and gangs, and need to be changed. But, he couldn't quite bring himself to say that he and the US Government were wrong for prosecuting Marc in the first place. In fact, and in a very juvenile fashion unbecoming such a highly educated person who once held a lofty rank in our government, he not only didn't say that he/they were wrong, he called Marc Emery and everyone else in America who consumes marijuana idiots.
Read the piece here Marijuana's True Potency and why the Law Should Change
Here is the letter to the editor I sent in reply.
Dear Editor,
In response to John McKay's recent editorial ("Marijuana's true potency" Sept. 3), How ironic that Mr. McKay says he wants to "discuss marijuana policy responsibly", yet, starts his editorial by calling Marc Emery and millions of Americans 'idiots' for choosing to consume marijuana. Demeaning his audience is no way to begin a responsible discussion.
His assertion that Marc Emery took the 'wrong path' in seeking to end this failed policy is incorrect. Marc's seed sales allowed individuals to grow their own marijuana, which took money away from violent drug cartels and redirected it to peaceful activists to fund changes through the legislative process. The policies Mr. McKay enforced funded the drug cartels.
By McKay's own admission marijuana laws are unjust. Yet, he defends upholding them in his capacity as Federal Prosecutor and the continued prosecution today of these unjust laws by his 'brave colleagues'. His rationale is that all laws, even admittedly unjust, harmful, failed ones, must be obeyed. What hypocrisy and true idiocy!
MLK Jr. once said, "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”. Marc did that. Mr. McKay didn't. While McKay may see marijuana consumers as 'idiots', judging by MLK's standards, McKay is an immoral coward. He should apologize to Marc Emery.
Respectfully submitted for publication,
Loretta Nall
__________
This morning when I checked my email there was one from Marc pointing me to a column in the National Post that was incredibly similar to the above piece. The author, Chris Selley, didn't stoop so low as to call names, but he did try and demean Marc and his heroic efforts to change these unjust laws in a different way.
A notable defector in the war on pot
And here is the letter I wrote in response to that column.
Dear Editor,
While I agree with most of Chris Selley's column (A Notable defector in the war on Pot Sept. 10) I take exception to the following assertion.
Selley stated, "However asinine, the law's the law."
I live in Alabama where it used to be legal to own a slave and illegal to help a slave gain freedom. We also had 'Jim Crow' laws that prevented blacks and poor whites from taking part in the political process. None of those laws were just and, everyone who had the courage to break them were true heroes, as is Marc Emery.
Just because something is against the law doesn't mean it's bad and just because something is legal doesn't mean it's good, as former Alabama laws so clearly demonstrate. Would Mr. Selley have followed either of those laws had he lived in Alabama at the time they were so brutally enforced, simply because they were laws?
Martin Luther king Jr. once said, "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”. Marc Emery clearly has the moral high ground on this issue.
Respectfully Submitted for Publication,
Loretta Nall
Now, all Americans reading this please take a few moments, read both articles, and write an LTE.
Send your letters to:
Seattle Times (200 words or less)
opinion@seattletimes.com
National Post
Submit a Letter to the Editor
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2 comments:
Emery has no credibility and makes himself a target to boost his own egocentric status. He's more interested in his legacy as a matyr than helping out the cause.
Anon that is complete BS and you know it. I can testify to the fact that Marc gave all of his money away to activists over the years. I am one of those activists who received money from him to do the work I do here in Alabama.
Marc knew he would one day go to prison for his activities....yet he did what he did anyway because he knew he had the moral high ground and he refused to bow down to a bad law just because it was a law. I doubt you would ever do anything as noble and self-sacrificing.
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