Pubdate: Tue, 12 Aug 2014
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2014 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Ian Bailey
Page: S1

Drug Laws

EMERY STILL A VOICE FOR POT: WIFE

'Prince of Pot' To Leave Jail to Changed Situation, but a Former 
Attorney-General Says Activist Still Relevant

Marc Emery may have been sidelined by a four-year prison sentence for 
selling marijuana seeds online, but his wife says he is still 
relevant to the ongoing debate about the legalization of marijuana.

The so-called "Prince of Pot," a former Vancouver resident, has 
served his time, and Jodie Emery expects to greet her husband in 
Windsor, Ont., at the Canada-U.S. border on Tuesday. The couple plan 
to do media interviews in Toronto and attend a party, resuming a 
campaign of advocacy for the legalization of marijuana that was 
interrupted with his arrest and prosecution in the United States.

Mr. Emery, 56, expects to be back in Vancouver on Aug. 17. He has 
previously disclosed a series of speaking engagements in Ireland, 
Spain and Vienna as he acclimates to freedom.

"Mark was a pioneer. He helped lay the groundwork to get us to where 
we are today," his wife said from Toronto on Monday, while awaiting a 
flight to Windsor to meet her husband. "Even if he is no longer a 
controversial, outrageous marijuana activist, he's still a political activist."

She added: "He is still relevant. We have thousands and thousands of 
Canadians looking forward to meeting him, working with him, telling 
us, in his absence, they have become activists while he has been away 
because they wanted to make a difference and they're looking forward 
to working with him now."

In July, Mr. Emery was processed for release from a medium-security 
U.S. federal prison in Mississippi. He spent 1,590 days in custody 
for operating a mailorder pot-seed business. In an Aug. 8 interview 
with Maclean's magazine, he blamed "bureaucracy" for his delayed 
release, saying the Canadian government took his passport when he was 
arrested in 2005 and he is awaiting processing by the U.S. to allow his return.

Mr. Emery returns to a changed situation. The leader of a major 
Canadian party, Justin Trudeau of the federal Liberals, is calling 
for marijuana legalization, and recreational marijuana use has been 
legalized in two U.S. states, Colorado and Washington. Even the U.S. 
district attorney who prosecuted Mr. Emery after his arrest nine 
years ago has called for the taxation and regulation of marijuana.

But Graeme Bowbrick, one of four former B.C. attorneys-general who 
signed a letter in 2012 calling for the taxation and regulation of 
adult cannabis use, said Mr. Emery has something of note to say.

"I think he's still relevant. While the debate has moved ahead, we 
still have an intransigent federal government in Canada and so the 
debate continues," said Mr. Bowbrick, the province's attorney-general 
in 2000 and 2001. "Someone who, for his principles, whether we agree 
with them or not, spent time in a U.S. prison still has something to 
contribute to the discussion."

Meanwhile, Ms. Emery said she still hopes to run for the federal 
Liberals in Vancouver East, a riding the NDP has held since 1997 and 
won with about 63 per cent of the vote in the 2011 election. She said 
she picked up her papers last weekend to file to the party's 
green-light committee, which will vet her to see if she passes muster 
for the nomination process.

On Monday, the Liberal Party of Canada, through an Ottawa 
spokesperson, declined comment on her candidacy.

Earlier this month, during a B.C. Day barbecue in Vancouver, Mr. 
Trudeau told The Province newspaper he had not met Ms. Emery. "I 
certainly don't have anything to say on her status as someone who 
could or couldn't be a candidate," he said. "There's a whole process 
to go through on that and I'm going to allow the process to function 
in this situation."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom