Pubdate: Thurs 19 May 2011
Source: Megaphone (CN BC)
Website: http://megaphonemagazine.com/
Contact:  #611, 142-757 W. Hastings 
St., Vancouver, BC V6C 1A1
Copyright: 2011 Street Corner Media Foundation
Author: Sean Condon

PRINCESS OF POT: JODIE EMERY TAKES OVER THE FIGHT TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
For years Jodie Emery was a constant at the side of her husband Marc 
Emery at Vancouver press conferences and marijuana rallies as he 
fought his extradition to the United States for selling cannabis 
seeds across the border. While Marc worked to inform Canadians that 
their government had arrested him in 2005 on behalf of the United 
States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as part of its 
controversial War on Drugs', Jodie's presence seemed to remind people 
what his loss of freedom would mean on a personal level.

However, since Marc started serving his five-year sentence in the 
U.S. last year, Jodie has become the face and voice of the marijuana 
legalization movement in Canada. While taking over the mantle from 
Vancouver's 'Prince of Pot' may have seemed daunting, Jodie has 
quickly proven to be a natural leader and has picked up where her 
husband left off. Along with being the editor of Cannabis Culture 
magazine, Jodie ran for the BC Green Party in the 2009 provincial 
election and continues to fight for marijuana legalization and to 
bring Marc back across the border to serve out his sentence.

A few days before the federal election, Megaphone sat down with Jodie 
at the Cannabis Culture head office and talked about Marc's case, 
what a Conservative majority will mean for marijuana users and about 
how she feels about becoming Canada's 'Princess of Pot'. The 
following is an edited transcript of the interview.

Megaphone: Marc was recently denied transfer to Canada and was moved 
from a minimum to medium security prison. How do you feel he's being 
treated by the U.S. justice system?

Jodie Emery: It's really unfortunate that they refused his transfer 
application because he did qualify under all the criteria for 
transfer, and we had the support of 23 previously and currently 
elected representatives from all levels of government in Canada. We 
also had support from U.S. politicians and thousands of letters from 
supporters across North America. The sentencing judge also 
recommended that he be transferred, so the only objection would be 
from the DEA, who considered Marc a major threat for his political activism.

I think the DEA wants Marc to serve the five-year sentence because he 
was facing 30-years-to-life and his plea deal was for five years. We 
had hoped that most of it would be served in Canada, but it will be 
served in the U.S. He'll apply for transfer again in two years, but 
it takes about a year for that to be processed and I'm not sure if 
they would approve it or not then. But in three years he'll be able 
to get out on early release if he's had good behaviour the whole 
time. If not, he'll be out after the five-year sentence in early 2015.

MP: Do you think he was denied transfer because he has been so 
outspoken on his blog about the conditions inside U.S. prisons?

JE: I think that did have something to do with it because the 
rejection letter said he was refused [transfer] for serious law 
enforcement concerns. But, of course, he's not a threat to anybody 
and he's not likely to reoffend; but they just want him to be sent 
away. They do see him as a [political] symbol. The other part in the 
rejection letter said Marc could reapply in two years when he's had 
time to consider changing his behaviour that led to the rejection, 
so, that's kind of saying, 'be quiet, stop complaining'.

MP: Marc had been so defiant about his actions, but when he was 
sentenced he expressed regret for selling seeds and that the methods 
were "ill conceived and ultimately destructive". What exactly did he 
mean by that?

JE: Well, he has to express remorse for his activities, that's 
required when you agree to plead guilty; you have to admit that 
you're doing wrong. He knew that he was breaking the law, so that's accurate.

He's defied a lot of laws that are unjust and that punish non-violent 
people his entire life. So when he sold seeds, he thought he could 
always face punishment. But if he was going to be charged, it would 
have been in Canada. Nobody expected the U.S. would be able to take 
him away when he never left Canada. And that's what made it such a 
big deal when it happened in 2005. Canadians were offended-our 
sovereignty had been breached.

So it's clear the reason why Marc was targeted-it's not because of 
the danger of the seeds, [but because of his activism].

MP: Where do you guys see the next step? How will you approach your 
activism now?

JE: I think we need to continue stressing the importance of our 
sovereignty as a country. Marc and I have been heavily involved in 
elections and in political campaigns because [Conservative Prime 
Minister] Stephen Harper is really doing a lot of bad things to 
Canada, and that impacts everybody.

Marc and I, in our activism, help people who are being hurt by the 
government, that's what our brand of activism is about. It's to 
protect people from the oppressive government force that's being used 
against peaceful, non-violent people. And so that extends to a lot of 
other things. This government is really adopting a lot of U.S. 
policies, especially with a lot of Christian, right-wing influences. 
So that's reflected in a lot of the policies that Harper has introduced.

I think when Marc was arrested that was the first time it was really 
obvious that our governments were working together in really sinister 
ways to sell out a citizen. So Marc and I have been really pushing 
for a change in our government and to get people involved in more 
than just supporting him, but to support our country and our 
democracy before it's too late. MP: Vancouver's 4/20 [marijuana] 
rally last month was the biggest it's ever been. And yet marijuana 
laws were never mentioned in the federal election.

MP: Vancouver's 4/20 [marijuana] rally last month was the biggest 
it's ever been. And yet marijuana laws were never mentioned in the 
federal election.

JE: I think that's because Harper is so steadfast against it. He 
doesn't ever get face-to-face with someone who doesn't agree with 
everything he thinks, so he's never going to get asked the marijuana 
question-it's just a dead issue in the water to him.

When you go and ask the other leaders, they're hesitant to say they 
want to make it legal because they know that will turn off a lot of 
people. What surprises me is that the other leaders often seem to be 
trying to get the Harper supporters instead of trying to appeal to 
the people who do want it legal. The majority of Canadians want it 
legal, but no leader is willing to say it because they feel Harper 
would use it against them.

So we're trying to educate [marijuana supporters] and remind them all 
that every single one of them is a target of Harper. They and 
everybody else is at risk under this government so they've got to 
give a damn. This government is introducing laws to put [users and 
growers] in prison. That's scary. We need to get our movement more 
focused on preserving ourselves and our safety instead of celebrating 
because it's not time to celebrate yet. Things have gone backwards 
since Marc was extradited.

MP: What changes has the Harper government made to marijuana laws?

JE: Harper changed the definition of a serious drug offense to 
include any marijuana offenses. So that means trafficking a joint. 
That means possessing personal weed. They changed it from being over 
three kilograms to include all of it. When they define something as a 
serious offense it gives police the ability to wire tap without 
needing the approval they normally have to go through. They are 
allowed to refuse you bail and they are allowed to seize your property.

What that means is that right now it's possible that the police could 
go to every house of someone that's growing pot and charge them under 
a serious offence, which is usually reserved for organized 
crime-these are people who just have a couple of plants in their 
closet. So that's a lot of resources and money badly being misused 
and it's based on the U.S.-style.

Harper also introduced mandatory minimums and that means that judges, 
even if they get a medical marijuana grower in front of them, have to 
sentence them to a certain amount of time. There are a lot of other 
laws that are being introduced that are targeted toward cannabis users.

Harper declared a culture war on marijuana use- one that he wants to 
get rid of it. That's his plan: he's dead set against the marijuana culture.

MP: On the one hand the government is creating more punitive laws, 
but on the other the Ontario Superior Court recently ruled that 
current marijuana cultivation and usage laws are unconstitutional.

JE: That's where the courts are on our side. That's one of the things 
we need to do before Harper stacks all the Supreme Court with much 
harsher and more conservative judges. This judge in Ontario found 
that Matthew Mernagh was being blocked by doctors to get marijuana. 
The government has to fix the program to make marijuana widely 
available. That means doctors can't say no. That means naturopaths 
could do it, or that means compassion clubs could license. It means 
more access.

The other option is that it will just be taken out of the law and we 
won't have any regulations or laws whatsoever. That's the preferable 
option to many of us, we'd prefer no laws or regulations whatsoever, 
but if medical marijuana users need sure that they restrict medicinal 
marijuana access as much as possible. But as long as judges keep 
finding that they're hurting people who don't need to be hurt 
anymore, that's a good thing.

MP: You didn't run in this federal election for the Green Party for 
personal reasons and instead threw your support behind Liberal MP 
Ujjal Dosanjh. While Dosanjh has helped fight Marc's extradition, the 
Liberal Party is against decriminalizing marijuana. How do you 
balance that contradiction?

JE: I kind of forgive the political parties for trying to dance 
around legalization and so for me I'd rather see the lesser evil in 
power rather than the more evil evil.

I know with Harper there's not a chance that we'll have any progress 
at all, not a chance. With the Liberals you know they could be 
persuaded with maybe arguments about money or arguments about what 
middle Canadians want. The NDP is certainly far more open and 
accessible into doing what the people want. So even though I 
personally consider myself a small c conservative libertarian and I 
like Jack Layton and the NDP the best, I certainly need the 
Conservatives to have fewer seats than last time around.

MP: You've been involved in the movement for quite some time with 
Marc. But now that he's behind bars, how do you feel about becoming 
the face and voice of cannabis activism in Canada?

JE: Marc was really preparing me for this all along. I've taken a lot 
of lessons from him but I've also learned a lot myself, especially 
with him being gone. He spent a short term in 2009 in Coquitlam. When 
he was gone I had to run this place by myself and it was hard. I had 
to learn how to do that, but I've gotten much better at it.

My whole life, even in elementary school or high school, I've always 
been a spokesperson. It's come pretty easily for me. I don't think 
too highly of myself, I'm always honoured and humbled when somebody 
wants to talk to me. When somebody wants an interview I'm always 
grateful for that opportunity. I try to represent people well and I'm 
told that I do, so I keep trying to do whatever it is I'm doing right.

For more information about Jodie and Marc Emery, visit FreeMarc.ca 
and CannabisCulture.com .
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart