Pubdate: Fri, 26 Aug 2005
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Petti Fong
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

EMERY WORRIED ABOUT LEGAL FEES

Pot Activist Says Donations Not Enough

VANCOUVER -- Marijuana advocate Marc Emery says Canadians have donated 
money to him in drips and drabs of $5 and $10, but his legal fees to fight 
extradition to the United States are mounting quickly.

Mr. Emery spoke outside court yesterday, where he and his co-accused, 
Gregory Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, made an appearance 
to set their next court date.

In past appearances, supporters jammed the courtrooms and waved signs 
outside. But there were notably fewer people in attendance yesterday.

Mr. Emery said he needs more money to pay for legal fees to fight charges 
of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute 
marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

U.S. officials want Mr. Emery extradited from Canada to stand trial in 
Seattle, where conviction on either of the marijuana charges carries a 
minimum prison term of 10 years.

Mr. Emery, who calls himself the world's most recognizable leader of 
cannabis culture, said he will either disappear or be killed if he faces 
the U.S. justice system.

He also claims that despite giving away $4-million over the past 10 years, 
he kept no money for himself. The politicians and others he once donated to 
have not given back, he said.

"The wealthy, famous and the well-off don't help. They don't understand 
what it's like to be in this position," Mr. Emery said.

"The people who often will do something are the people who can least afford 
to help you. They understand suffering. They understand what having your 
back against the wall is."

The three accused were arrested after an 18-month investigation by the U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Agency. Vancouver police searched Mr. Emery's Vancouver 
apartment and RCMP made the arrest in Halifax.

Mr. Emery, 47, said he has been taking in donations of $5 to $10 with a 
vast majority of help coming from Canadians.

Americans have been afraid to donate to his cause, Mr. Emery said, because 
they fear any show of support, either in a phone call or e-mail, will 
result in surveillance from the DEA.

More than 75 per cent of the customers who purchased marijuana seeds from 
his mail-order business are from the United States.

In court, lawyer John Conroy, who is representing all three co-accused, 
said the defendants are facing financial hardship.

Employees who worked for Mr. Emery's marijuana enterprises, including a 
store, a magazine and his television show, have either quit because they 
feared arrest themselves or have been laid off. Volunteers are continuing 
to help run the operations.

Mr. Emery is set to return to court on Sept. 16.
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