PARLIAMENT - MPs representing three political parties stood in the House of Commons yesterday in support of "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery. Ontario Tory Scott Reid with Vancouver MPs Libby Davies (NDP) and Ujjal Dosanjh (Liberal) together presented a 12,000-signature petition asking Canada's justice minister to refuse Emery's extradition. The Vancouver marijuana activist faces five years in a U.S. prison after agreeing in September to a plea bargain for one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. Dosanjh, a former B.C. premier and attorney general, called Emery's possible extradition "inherently unfair." "Countries don't usually extradite people to countries where they could face inordinate penalties," Dosanjh said. [continues 108 words]
While being royalty may have its advantages, even Vancouver's Prince of Pot couldn't get into the Molson Canadian Hockey House on Sunday to watch Canada do battle with the U.S. "They (VANOC) just don't want the association," said Marc Emery about being denied access to the bustling venue. "They're worried about me being seen beside the athletes." Emery and his wife, Jodie, were invited to the Hockey House by a CNN reporter who had been interviewing them during the Games. The reporter promised the couple media passes that Emery claims were revoked by VANOC. [continues 101 words]
We all know Mike Holmes - the guy with biceps the size of tires, who rights wrongs when it comes to home renovations. But at Marketplace, we team up with Mike tonight to tackle a growing (no pun intended) problem in Canada - homes that are used for marijuana grow-ops, then sold to unsuspecting buyers. The RCMP estimates there are thousands of houses being used for grow-ops today, often in quiet, suburban neighbourhoods where you'd least expect them. They're often quietly patched up - leaving new homeowners stuck with mold, structural and electrical issues. [continues 300 words]
B.C.'s Prince of Pot has been granted bail and could temporarily be released from jail as early as today as he continues to await extradition to the U.S. to plead guilty to selling marijuana seeds. Marc Emery has been held at the North Surrey Pre-Trial Centre in Port Coquitlam since turning himself over to authorities on Sept. 28. He anticipated the extradition process would take 30 days, but his lawyer, Ian Donaldson, is ill with pleurisy and has been unable to file submissions. [continues 131 words]
'Unrepentant' Cannabis Crusader Turns Himself in for Extradition With his wife Jodie at his side, Prince of Pot Marc Emery ended his last press conference as a free person yesterday by raising his hand to his temple and saluting supporters outside B.C.'s Supreme Court. "I feel proud about everything that I've done," Emery told reporters before he entered the Law Courts and surrendered himself for extradition to the U.S. "I don't feel bad about anything. I won't be repentant. I won't be apologizing to any judge. My only regret is that I couldn't do more." [continues 210 words]
Emery tying up loose ends before beginning up to 15 years in U.S. jail Marc Emery says he's spending his last few days of freedom tying up loose ends with his business before being sent south of the border to begin serving a drugs-related sentence. "You typically miss fresh air and good food, two things that are not available inside federal prisons," said Emery. This will be his second time behind bars after spending three months in a Saskatoon jail in 2004. [continues 163 words]
Canada's Prince of Pot is handing his crown to his princess. Pot activist Marc Emery told a Vancouver business licence hearing yesterday that he was transferring control of his Cannabis Culture Headquarters to his wife, Jodie Emery. "She is an exemplary person and she'll be an excellent business person," said Marc Emery, who was at city hall for a third day to appeal the city's rejection of his business licence renewal. Emery is surrendering himself to authorities on Monday for extradition to the U.S., where he will plead guilty to selling marijuana seeds through mail. [continues 111 words]
A handful of "community leaders" in Vancouver have donated about $450,000 to help fund the second part of a heroin and drug substitution trial, according to the executive director of the Inner Change Foundation. Trish Walsh said the first trial, called NAOMI, found ways to personalize drug addiction treatment. Results were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. "There's been virtually no innovation in the treatment of addiction in 30 years," Trish said. "With cancer and heart disease we've moved from having limited protocols to an integrated client approach." [continues 165 words]
Offer Of Expenses To Delegates Misconstrued: Drug Reform Advocate A former federal NDP candidate from B.C. plans to sit across the street from the party's convention in Halifax Friday morning with a sign that reads: 'I was banned from the convention. Ask me why.' Dana Larsen, a marijuana advocate who ran as an NDP candidate during the 2008 federal election, claims he was escorted from Halifax's World Trade and Convention Centre Thursday on allegations that he tried to buy delegate votes. [continues 175 words]
Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was in Vancouver yesterday to drum up support for a bill that would impose mandatory sentences for drug producers and traffickers. "Illicit drug production is the No. 1 source of income for gangs and organized crime," said Nicholson after touring a mock grow-op at the fire department's training facility. The fake pot plants were green plastic bags sitting on bamboo stems. "Drug labs and grow-ops . threaten the safety of B.C.'s neighbourhoods and particularly our children." [continues 68 words]
Vancouver-based pot activist Marc Emery will have to wait longer to obtain his business licences after yesterday's hearing at city hall ended without a decision. Emery, director of Avalon Sunsplash Ltd., has three properties on the 300-block of West Hastings: 420 Convenience Store, Cannabis Culture Magazine and Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters. He believes that the city is putting him through an "insulting process of having to essentially beg them" to renew his licences. "I'm a great excuse for them to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer's money on fruitless investigations," Emery said. "(It's) an opportunity to intimidate a legitimate citizen who's probably one of the most important political figures in this city." [continues 108 words]
Pot activist Marc Emery said he'll no longer fight his looming extradition to the United States where he faces drug charges and will instead focus on cutting a deal with prosecutors. "My lawyers put it to me bluntly," Emery said on Thursday. "Canada has never not accepted an extradition request from the U.S. and the Conservative government hates you." He now plans to plead guilty to one charge of drug distribution if two more serious charges are dropped. His lawyers are asking for a jail sentence of five years while American prosecutors are asking for eight. [continues 83 words]
2010 Torch Reminds Many Of Marijuana Joint All hail - or inhale - the 2010 Olympic Torch. Or, as it's jokingly known around Vancouver, the Olympic Toke. Composed of stainless steel, aluminum and sheet moulding, the torch was designed to invoke snow, ice, skiing and skating, but to many, the metre-length white torch looks suspiciously like a marijuana joint, especially when lit. That the torch bears a resemblance to Vancouver's biggest cash crop was evident right away to Jodie Emery, editor of Cannabis Culture magazine. [continues 130 words]
Hearing On Prince Of Pot's Business Operations Delayed Pot activist Marc Emery will have to wait nearly two months to learn if he can keep open his three businesses on West Hastings Street. Barbara Windsor, the city's chief licence inspector, said Emery's company, Avalon Sunsplash Limited, should not have its business licence renewed due to his 2004 conviction for drug trafficking and police reports of open drug use on the premises. Windsor said the 420 Convenience Store, the Cannabis Culture Magazine and Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters had a "significant number of city bylaw breaches" since 2001. [continues 111 words]
Scoring street drugs is often the easier alternative to pain relief than acquiring prescription medication, according to a report based on a group of female users in the Downtown Eastside. A two-year study conducted by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users Care Team found that 70 per cent of women requesting health services were stigmatized by the health-care system. "It's easier to get drugs on the street than drugs from a doctor," said Dr. Amy Salmon, principal investigator from the Women's Health Research Institute. [continues 84 words]
Thousands Light Up Joints To Celebrate Cannabis Culture At 4/20 Event A crowd of more than 5,000 people lit joints and got high outside the Vancouver Art Gallery yesterday to celebrate 4/20, the annual cannabis culture gala. The impenetrable mass of people at the event counted down to 4:20 p.m., and then proceeded to spark up joints, pipes and bongs. The sky filled with a massive plume of smoke. From teenagers to the middle-aged, the festivity attracted a wide demographic of pot smokers. [continues 173 words]
Mine Salkin Smoking marijuana may be a criminal offence, but Vancouver police won't be looking to make arrests at a pro-pot rally on Monday that is expected to attract thousands of people. Const. Jana McGuinness said officers will be present at the event, which takes place in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery every April 20. "As long as there isn't a public safety issue, where things would move into the streets, then the event will be able to continue," she said. [continues 141 words]
The "Prince of Pot" believes that Vancouver is using the upcoming Olympics as a last-ditch effort to boot him out of town. Marc Emery, outspoken pot activist and leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party, has never needed a business licence for his various Hastings Street stores because they operated under the umbrella of his political party. With the Games approaching, however, he feels Vancouver police are nagging city hall to turn up the heat and close the businesses: the 420 Convenience Store, the Cannabis Culture store and Cannabis Culture magazine's administrative office. "This is the last great chance for the Conservative government to get rid of us," he said yesterday, adding that he has complied with every government, health and safety order to date. [end]
Dozens of large bags filled with pot and mushrooms were displayed by North Vancouver police yesterday after busting a dial-a-dope operation on a tip from Crimestoppers. The sophisticated ring called itself a compassionate association that provided - at a cost - drugs to sick people. It had more than 1,000 clients, for whom it provided menus and even issued receipts. RCMP Cpl. Marlene Morton said yesterday that so-called compassion clubs are illegal in Canada and that there are legal ways to obtain medical marijuana. [continues 51 words]
B.C. drivers are more likely to be under the influence of drugs than of alcohol, a new survey suggested yesterday. Preliminary findings from the 2008 British Columbia Roadside Survey found that 10.4 per cent of people driving at night showed evidence of drug use. By comparison, 8.1 per cent of drivers had consumed alcohol. "We've spent the past 25 to 30 years dealing almost exclusively with alcohol and driving," said Doug Beirness, senior research and policy analyst at The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA). [continues 168 words]
Permits for benefit featuring Bedouin Soundclash rejected: Police A free concert that was to be put on by Bedouin Soundclash last night in front of the Insite clinic in the Downtown Eastside didn't happen after police say event organizers didn't have proper permits to put on the show. "The city had declined a permit that was requested by the group," Const. Jana McGuinness said last night. "The city is concerned that pedestrians or motorists may be unduly put at risk by the event." [continues 198 words]
Supervised drug injection sites, like Vancouver's Insite, are a 'terrible mistake' that will exacerbate drug problems, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said yesterday in Surrey. Giuliani, the Republican mayor of New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said he favours prosecuting drug dealers and funding drug rehabilitation programs. "I think we can rehabilitate people who use drugs," said Giuliani, a former prosecutor, prior to his speech at the Surrey Regional Economic Summit yesterday. "But we should not encourage them to use drugs. That's a terrible mistake, it's just going to make the drug problem worse." [continues 290 words]
The co-founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party resigned yesterday as the federal NDP candidate for the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast riding. Dana Larsen, 37, resigned after questions about his involvement in the Vancouver Seed Bank and Tokers Lounge on East Hastings Street. He used to manage the retail outlet, which sells seeds of rare and medicinal plants, including coca plants, the basis for cocaine. He is no longer associated with the store and according to an employee coca seeds are not stocked anymore. [continues 146 words]
New Downtown Court Based On U.S. Model A new provincial court opens its doors in the Downtown Eastside today, offering an innovative approach to curbing the cycle of poverty and drug addiction that fuels crime in Vancouver. The Downtown Community Court, which is modelled after a similar system in the U.S., aims to determine why offenders commit crimes, and instead of punishing them, help them overcome those problems. "This is perhaps the most creative thing to be done in the criminal justice system in the 35 years that I've been here," said British Columbia Attorney General Wally Oppal. [continues 109 words]
