Pubdate: Thu, 06 Mar 2008 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Canoe Inc Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837 Author: Reuters Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc) EXTRADITION DEAL HITS SNAG A deal to resolve the extradition fight between Canada's "Prince of Pot" and U.S. drug authorities has hit a snag, the marijuana activist said yesterday. The United States wants to extradite Marc Emery - who founded a political party and campaigned across Canada to legalize pot - on charges he illegally sold marijuana seeds from his Vancouver store to American buyers. Emery tentatively agreed with U.S. prosecutors in January to plead guilty in return for the charges being dropped against two other defendants and he being allowed to spend the bulk of a 10-year sentence in Canada. Canada must also approve the deal, but its prosecutors say a Canadian judge cannot be ordered to impose a U.S. prison sentence of no release for at least five years that is stricter than Canadian law requires. "The Canadian government says that's not legal in Canada ... and so Justice Department in the United States says the deal is not possible because the Canadians are not playing ball so to speak," Emery told reporters. Emery was in court in Vancouver yesterday to set a date for his extradition trial, but a judge agreed to postpone the hearing until April 19 to allow his lawyers to continue negotiating with U.S. and Canadian prosecutors. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin