Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jan 2008
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2008 Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.edmontonsun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Mindelle Jacobs
Alert: Marc Emery Needs Your Support http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0359.html

DRUG POLICY WIMPS

Marc Emery, Canada's mouthy Prince of Pot, isn't entirely a 
sympathetic character. He brought the wrath of the U.S. down on his 
own head by deliberately selling marijuana seeds over the Internet.

It seems he yearns to be a martyr for the cause - he insists he'd 
willingly spend the rest of his life in jail for poking Uncle Sam in the eye.

"I'm really pleased and proud of what I've done," he said this week. 
"I wish I could have done more to piss the U.S. government off, actually."

In the eyes of the U.S. authorities, Emery is getting a huge break. 
Rather than spending 20 or 30 years in an American jail, he's 
reportedly agreed to a five-year jail term without parole, to be 
served mostly in Canada. In exchange, the charges against his two 
co-accused will be dropped.

Emery could have spent the rest of his life happily selling marijuana 
seeds in this country and the Canadian authorities would likely have 
continued to look the other way. He hasn't exactly kept his business a secret.

As he explained to listeners on As it Happens Monday night, he sends 
his marijuana seed catalogues to MPs and has paid hundreds of 
thousands of dollars in taxes over the years. But he started selling 
seeds to Americans, deliberately provoking the U.S. authorities.

The Canadian government largely ignored his illegal activities (his 
last trafficking conviction was a decade ago), accepted his tax money 
and then blithely sat back while Uncle Sam launched extradition proceedings.

What a bunch of hypocrites our politicians are. Pot is illegal in 
this country but Ottawa couldn't muster up the effort to close down 
our most infamous marijuana activist.

It's essentially an admission that our pot laws are ridiculous but we 
don't have the guts to reform them, despite repeated pleas by various 
bodies over the years.

By turning a blind eye to Emery's activities, Ottawa has implicitly 
acknowledged that marijuana use is not a big deal. It's no wonder 
that, as the Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs noted in 2002, the gap 
between the law and public compliance has widened.

After all, if Ottawa can't be bothered prosecuting a big fish like 
Emery, why should ordinary Canadians respect the law?

Moral Panic

Sadly, this makes us look like wimps. We're not ballsy enough to 
uphold the law and too cowardly to change it to reflect contemporary 
Canadian attitudes.

Emery, the victim of our cowardice, now faces the prospect of more 
time in jail than people convicted of serious assaults or, in some 
cases, even manslaughter.

Canada's early drug legislation was based on "moral panic" instead of 
facts, the Senate Committee pointed out in its 2002 report on pot.

More than 80 years after pot was banned in Canada, it seems we still 
don't want to face facts.

Billions of dollars have been spent on enforcement but marijuana is 
more widely available than ever, the Senate committee observed, 
recommending that pot be legalized and regulated.

Similarly, the war on drugs in the U.S. has created a more efficient 
drug trade and a hugely profitable drug market, notes the Criminal 
Justice Policy Foundation.

Almost 500,000 people are in U.S. jails for drug offences, more than 
all the prisoners in the European Union, it adds.

While overall arrests decreased in the U.S. in the 1990s, pot arrests 
jumped 113%, according to the Sentencing Project, a group which 
promotes sentencing reform.

Maybe the next generation will get it right. We've blown it, Emery's 
taking the fall and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is missing in action. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake