IS CANADA A UNITED STATES PUPPET? PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #314 - Friday, 5 August 2005 Readers of this alert are likely aware of the arrests of Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, and Gregory Williams - Canadians - at the request of the United States government. Already much has been published in the Canadian press, and some articles in the United States press. Cannabis Culture http://cannabisculture.com/ has posted on line at http://cannabisculture.com/articles/4471.html a list of "5 things you can do to help Marc Emery." While not every action listed is something those outside of Canada may do, number 3 on the list "Write to Canadian media" is clearly appropriate. We ask your help in letting the Canadian media know what you think about these arrests. Already many newspaper clippings may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/people/Marc+Emery - with more being added every day. An extensive list of Canadian media with letter to the editor contacts is on line at http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/press.htm Media with larger clipping counts are likely to be better targets for your letter writing efforts. On August 3rd the Globe and Mail, one of Canada's two national newspapers, printed an OPED by Alan Young which provides a fair view of the issues in our opinion, so we are providing it below. Is Canada a United States puppet? We hope not, but in this case only time will tell. JUST SAY NO TO UNCLE SAM'S DEA Washington wants to take over the prosecution of those who flout Canada's marijuana laws. Ottawa should tell it to butt out, says law professor ALAN YOUNG On July 27, in Halifax, RCMP officers arrested Marc Emery, Canada's self-styled "Prince of Pot," after a U.S. federal grand jury indicted him on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Mr. Emery, who ran a lucrative marijuana seed business, may not be everyone's idea of a hero, but many Canadians are outraged by the Americans waging their war on drugs within our borders. There is little doubt that Mr. Emery's seeds found their way into the hands of eager U.S. pot-smokers, and U.S. drug agents had a legitimate concern about the prince's business activities. However, this concern should have led to a request that Canadian police enforce our existing laws to sanction Mr. Emery. Instead, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency asked Canadian police to execute a wide-ranging search warrant in Mr. Emery's home town, Vancouver, and to deliver him and other Canadian marijuana activists to be prosecuted in the land of mandatory minimum punishments. From the Canadian perspective, Mr. Emery's constant flouting of our marijuana laws were tolerated and his activities seen as part and parcel of our continuing debate over marijuana law reform. I recognize that the sale of viable cannabis seeds appears to be a crime both in Canada and the United States, and that there may be a legal basis for seeking extradition as these seeds found their way onto U.S. soil. But I'm deeply concerned about subjecting a Canadian citizen to the draconian laws of a foreign nation when we don't bother charging this person for violating our laws. A Canadian citizen is now exposed to U.S. drug sentences which border on cruel and unusual punishment -- for violating a law we rarely enforce in Canada. Mr. Emery has publicly boasted about the size of his enterprise ("I sell four million seeds a year") and the DEA claims that he makes about $3-million a year from his seed sales. But the Americans fail to mention that much of this money has been funnelled into legal challenges, compassion clubs, drug treatment centres and political activism. Mr. Emery is not the kingpin of some British Columbian cartel, breaking the law for personal gain; rather, he is an activist who has flouted the law as a political statement and in order to acquire resources to change the law. Had he had been prosecuted and convicted under Canadian law, he would probably receive a fine and a short prison term. It's unlikely that U.S. courts will respect or understand the political context of Mr. Emery's alleged criminality. In many aspects of criminal-justice policy, the differences between Canada and the United States have grown exponentially. When we extradite to the United States, we must recognize that we are sending someone to a very different legal and political culture. In Canada we have a medical-marijuana program in which patients can lawfully use marijuana; in Oklahoma, an army vet who grew pot to cope with his own crippling arthritis was sentenced to 90 years in prison. In dealing with the Americans, we must take care that mutual legal assistance does not become legal domination, as has the U.S. war on drugs in Latin America. The DEA's pursuit of the Prince of Pot isn't the first instance of Canada's deferring to U.S. drug-law enforcement policy. One summer day in 2004, an off-duty Vancouver policeman was driving near Hope, B.C., when he was stopped by a Texas state trooper. Constable David Laing, annoyed by the involvement of Texans on a Canadian highway, refused to submit to a random drug search. A minute later, he was stopped by another trooper and an RCMP officer, who did a thorough search (they found no marijuana). Mr. Laing went to his lawyers; his civil suit was settled out of court. The Texans later explained that they were taking part in a training-exchange program with the RCMP. Although the Texas program is unconstitutional by Canadian standards, our law enforcement officials were somehow convinced that there was much to be learned by letting U.S. officials violate the rights of Canadians on Canadian soil. Imposing American values, including attitudes towards drugs, on the global village can only harm the U.S. in the long-term, by fuelling a growing anti-American sentiment. In the case of the Prince of Pot, I hope that Canada's Minister of Justice will exercise his discretion to block this extradition if a court finds the request to be technically proper. At a minimum, Irwin Cotler should refuse to extradite unless an undertaking is provided that Mr. Emery won't be subjected to the cruel minimum sentences if convicted in a U.S. court. Mutuality dictates that the Americans show some respect for our legal and political values, as we do for theirs. But we must show backbone to resist U.S. efforts to enforce their drug laws on our soil. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do - it's what YOU do Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed. Future media activism sessions in the DrugSense Virtual Conference Room are announced at http://www.mapinc.org/resource/pal_sched.php PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others may learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Prepared by: Richard Lake =.

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