Marc Emery
Encyclopedia
Marc Scott Emery is a Canadian cannabis
policy reform advocate, as well as a former cannabis seed seller. He is currently serving a five year sentence in a United States
federal prison for selling cannabis
seeds.
magazine, a founding member of the Freedom Party of Ontario
, the Marijuana Party of Canada
and the BC Marijuana Party, founder of the Iboga Therapy House and founder of Pot TV
. He ran for mayor of the city of Vancouver
in 1996, 2002 and 2008.
He is formerly a retailer of cannabis seeds for cultivation, having started Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds in 1995, which he ran until it was closed by a raid by Vancouver police
acting on the request of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) on July 29, 2005.
Emery was taken into custody on September 28, 2009, and held at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, BC, to await extradition
to the USA. On November 18, 2009, Emery was released on bail, pending the Canadian Minister of Justice signing the extradition order; and on May 10, 2010, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson
signed the order and ordered Emery to surrender to authorities, which he did that same day.
On May 10, 2010, Justice Minister Nicholson ruled Emery be extradited to the United States. He faces 5 years in the US penal system. The possibility exists Emery may be allowed to serve all or part of his sentence in Canada. US authorities have not rejected this option, should Canada make such a formal request.
On May 20, 2010, Emery was extradited to the United States. On May 24, he appeared in a Seattle courtroom and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
On June 3, officials at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac
, Washington gave Emery an official citation for allowing his wife, BC Green Party Director-at-Large Jodie Emery, to record a message from him over the phone, claiming it broke the prison's rule forbidding third-party calls. Emery was locked in a Segregated Housing Unit (SHU) for three weeks.
On September 10, 2010 in a Seattle court room, Marc Emery was sentenced to 5 years in prison. US district court judge Ricardo Martinez sentenced Emery, stating there was no question his actions were criminal and that Emery ensured others broke the law by selling them the seeds. The court noted Emery claimed on his website to have made some $3 million a year from selling seeds from his Vancouver headquarters. Emery donated almost all of the money generated from his seed sales to marijuana policy reform efforts. Emery's claims that his arrest was political were disputed by the prosecution.
On November 19, 2010 Marc Emery was transferred to the D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Folkston, GA. He has since been transferred to FCI Correctional Institution in Yazoo City, MS to serve the rest of his sentence.
He dropped out of high school in 1975 at age 17 to purchase a used book store on Richmond Street in downtown London which he renamed City Lights Book Store. Emery operated the store for 17 years, selling it in 1992.
Shortly after opening the store, Emery began a three-year fight against the London Downtown Business Association for extracting mandatory fees from all core area shops for beautification and other programs.
Emery also ran an emergency garbage service in London for three weeks during a municipal garbage strike in 1986.
He first became politically active with the Libertarian Party of Canada
, and ran for the Canadian House of Commons
under that party's banner in the 1980 federal election
. He received 197 votes in London East
, finishing fourth.
Emery later left the Libertarians and became a London-area organiser for the Unparty. In 1983 Robert Metz, who had worked with Emery since 1980, was made president of the Unparty and later that year announced the Unparty would change its name to the Freedom Party of Ontario
, which continues to be a registered political party in the Province of Ontario. Emery served as the Freedom Party's Action Director from 1984 to 1990.
In 1984, Emery, the Freedom Party, and the No Tax for Pan-Am Games Committee (founded by Emery and Metz) successfully campaigned against London's bid for the 1991 Pan American Games
, saying the city would lose millions.
Emery ran as a candidate of the Freedom Party in the rural constituency of Middlesex
, near London, in the 1987 provincial election
. He received 499 votes for a distant fifth-place finish.
In 1986 and 1987, Emery defied Ontario's Sunday shopping laws, finally facing eight charges after opening for eight Sundays in a row. In March 1988, he spent four days in jail after being convicted on the first of the charges and then refusing to pay the fine.
He also campaigned against London's by-law prohibiting sidewalk signs.
After resigning from the Freedom Party in 1990, Emery rented the London Regional Art & Historical Museum (now called Museum London) for his first pro-pot rally.
In 1991, Emery was convicted for selling copies of 2 Live Crew
's rap CD As Nasty As They Wanna Be
which had been deemed obscene and banned in Ontario. He was given one year probation, but immediately after sentencing he began selling marijuana-related literature and High Times Magazine, all in violation of Canadian law.
Emery invited local police to his store to arrest him, and even sold copies of the banned marijuana grow books right outside the London Ontario police station, but the police refused to charge him or interfere. He also sponsored visits from marijuana luminaries such as Ed Rosenthal
, Steven Hager
, Jack Herer
and Paul Mavrides
.
Much of this early period of Emery's life is featured in the 1992 documentary film Marc Emery: Messing Up the System scripted by London writers Chris Doty
and Jason Rip., and a play called Citizen Marc: The Adventures of Marc Emery. The play was directed by John Gerry which opened in London on January 27, 2006. Emery was in attendance for the premiere. Doty committed suicide in the days that followed. The play won the Brickenden Awards for Best Ballyhoo, Best Actor and Best Director.
in March 1994, and founded a store called Hemp BC on July 7. His store played a major part in expanding Canada's then very small and underground industry in cannabis-related paraphernalia. Bongs and pipes are illegal in Canada under section 462.2 of the Criminal Code, and were not readily available in Canada at the time. Emery imported and wholesaled a variety of bongs, pipes and other cannabis-related items, and encouraged other people to open their own "Hemp Stores" across Canada.
In late 1994, a court challenge sponsored by Emery convinced an Ontario judge to overturn the Canadian prohibition on marijuana and drug-related literature, making it legal for High Times Magazine and marijuana grow books to be sold in Canada once more.
Emery began selling marijuana seeds in late 1994, after attending the High Times Cannabis Cup
and being inspired by a Dutch seed store named Sensi Seeds. In early 1995 he launched Cannabis Canada Magazine, which was renamed Cannabis Culture Magazine
in 1998.
In December 1995, Emery and his seed business were featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, leading to a deluge of media attention. One month later, in January 1996, Hemp BC was raided by Vancouver police who seized Emery's bongs and seeds and charged him with selling marijuana seeds and "promoting vaporizers." He was later convicted and given a $2200 fine, $500 for each of four counts of selling marijuana seeds and $200 for vaporizer promotion.
Emery re-opened his store the next day, and continued to sell paraphernalia and marijuana seeds. By 1997 he had expanded his store to include a Grow Shop, a Legal Assistance Centre, and the Cannabis Cafe, which featured a custom-built vaporizer built into every table.
On October 12, 1997, Marc Emery was featured on CNN
Impact in an episode called "Canada Cannabis." The announcer referred to Emery as the "Prince of Pot" and the label stuck. This drew major international media attention to Emery and his Hemp BC store once more.
The Vancouver police returned on December 16, 1997, once again emptying his store of seeds and paraphernalia, as well as taking the vaporizers out of the Cannabis Cafe. Police claimed to have seized about $1.6 million worth of marijuana-related merchandise, plus tens of thousands of marijuana seeds.
Emery was jailed but not charged with any seed or paraphernalia offences but he was charged and convicted of "assaulting a police officer" because he spat on a police officer while they were forcibly removing protestors from in front of the store. In a later interview, Emery stated "I was found guilty and fined two hundred dollars. My defence was that it was justifiable as they were assaulting my employees. We have video tape of them kicking, shoving objects at, using a truncheon, and pulling on the hair of David Malmo-Levine and Ian Roberts. I wanted to show my disgust in a non-violent way, and to draw the police toward me and away from my employees."
Emery was also banned from returning to the 300 block of West Hastings, where his businesses were located.
Emery re-opened Hemp BC the next day but then sold the store to his manager shortly thereafter, who suffered repeated raids during 1998 and then had her business license revoked by the city.
Emery's seed business was raided again at its office location on April 30, 1998, and Emery was charged with selling marijuana seeds. Another raid on September 2, 1998, saw Emery jailed overnight again and his seeds confiscated, but no charges were laid. He was convicted from the April raid in 1999, and given a $2000 fine.
In August 1998, Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen
had told the New York Times that Hemp BC was "going to be toast by September."
Court documents showed that four American navy undercover agents attempted to buy marijuana and smoke it at the Cannabis Cafe. The documents showed the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
agents worked in a joint operation with Vancouver police in April 1998.
Emery was convicted on charges of selling marijuana seeds in 1998, and received a $2000 fine. He switched his walk-in marijuana seed business to mail-order only, and continued to publish Cannabis Culture magazine. In early 2000 he was expanding again, with the establishment of Pot-TV, a marijuana-related video channel.
In 2001, Emery was a featured presenter at Idea City, an annual gathering of notable Canadians organized by Moses Znaimer
.
In November 2002, then US Drug Czar
John Walters
visited Vancouver to give a speech at a luncheon sponsored by the Vancouver Board of Trade
. Emery bought a table for himself and other local cannabis activists, and heckled Walters as he spoke about the need for Canada to embrace the "War on Drugs."
From 1998 until his arrest in 2005, Emery paid provincial and federal taxes as a "marijuana seed vendor" totalling nearly $600,000.
Emery has described himself as a "major financial backer of almost every pro-pot effort in North America and many more around the world." He claims that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in election campaigning for the Canadian Marijuana Party, BC Marijuana Party and the Vancouver Marijuana Party. He also claims to have funded numerous marijuana activist groups, paid for several major legal challenges to aspects of Canada's cannabis laws, and made large donations to various pro-pot ballot initiatives in US states such as California, Nevada, Alaska and Arizona, plus financially backed pro-cannabis activities in New Zealand, Australia, Russia and elsewhere around the world.
TV, and CNN Radio News, ABC News
, the USA Today
, the Hindustan Times
of India the National Enquirer, Rolling Stone Magazine, CBC Newsworld
, Forbes Magazine, Vancouver Magazine
, 60 Minutes
, the New York Times and more.
Emery is featured in the 2007 CBC documentary film "Prince of Pot: The US vs. Marc Emery". He also appears in the 2007 documentary "Living Luminaries: The Serious Business of Happiness", a 2007 documentary called The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
, a 2005 documentary called "Escape to Canada" and the 2007 documentary "The Naked Queen".
Emery also appeared in the 2007 comedy documentary "Super High Me
" and was featured in a December 2008 episode of National Geographic Explorer
called Marijuana Nation, and two National Geographic specials in 2009, one called "Inside Marijuana", the other called "Super Weed".
Emery's earlier career is featured in the 1992 documentary "Marc Emery: Messing up the System".
Emery's history of political activism, both before and since his involvement in the cannabis prohibition issue, was the subject of the in-depth documentary "The Principle of Pot", which was released in 2010.
, a political party running to fully legalize (not just decriminalize
) cannabis. In 2001 he helped found the British Columbia Marijuana Party
(BCMP), which he currently leads.
Emery ran for the Canadian House of Commons as a Marijuana Party Candidate in the 2000 federal election
, and finished sixth out of ten candidates in Vancouver Centre
with 1,116 votes. Liberal Hedy Fry
won the riding.
The BCMP placed fifth in the 2001 provincial election
and was only a few hundred votes short of fourth place. Emery himself received 905 votes in Vancouver-Burrard, finishing fourth against BC Liberal
Lorne Mayencourt
.
Emery has been the BC Marijuana Party's president since its founding, and also became party leader in 2003, when Leader Dana Larsen
resigned to join the NDP.
In the 2005 British Columbia election
, Emery ran for the BC Marijuana in Fort Langley-Aldergrove
against provincial Solicitor General
Rich Coleman
, but was defeated.
On July 30, 2008, Emery announced he was running for mayor of Vancouver in the November election, and MLA
in the upcoming by-election
for the constituency of Vancouver-Fairview
which remains vacant after Gregor Robertson
won the Vision Vancouver
nomination to run for mayor.
, which eliminates withdrawal symptoms and helps produce the mental change needed to quit using.
Emery's Iboga Therapy House treated almost 60 people before he stopped funding in 2004, at a cost Emery states of over $2000 per person. The Iboga Therapy House became a non-profit society in 2005 and continues to offer ibogaine therapy as an independent organization.
after serving 61 days of his sentence.
since in 2003 Jack Layton
supported the legalization of marijuana. In November 2003, Layton was a guest on Emery's Pot TV program. During the 20-minute interview, Emery urged marijuana activists to support the NDP in the 2004 federal election
.
He endorsed Svend Robinson
's candidacy in Vancouver Centre during the 2006 federal election
campaign, and obtained permission from a judge to have his bail conditions varied so that he could campaign for the NDP candidate.
In the 2009 BC provincial election, Emery supported the Green Party of British Columbia
. His wife, Jodie Emery, was the BC Green candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview
.
, Nova Scotia
where he was attending a HempFest.
American authorities charged Emery and co-defendants Gregory Keith Williams, 50, of Vancouver, BC and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, of Vancouver, BC with "'Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana", "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana Seeds" and "Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering". Even though all the alleged offenses occurred in Canada, Canadian police did not lay any charges.
The day of Emery's arrest, American DEA Administrator Karen Tandy admitted reasons behind the arrest were politically motivated by releasing the following statement, which praised blows dealt to the legalization movement:
Emery was freed on a $50,000 bail and prepared to fight extradition in the courts.
On September 19, 2009, rallies were held in over 100 cities around the world in support of Marc Emery and opposition to his extradition to the USA. Locations included New York, London, Paris, Edmonton, Oslo, Lima, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Houston and many more.
On May 22, 2010, rallies and protests in support of Marc Emery were held in over 80 cities representing a dozen countries. Nations with rallies included Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Philippines, Denmark and Ireland. There were 40 participating cities across Canada and another two dozen across the USA.
Worldwide "Support Marc Emery" rallies are planned for September 18, 2012. So far over 80 cities have confirmed their participation.
On January 14, 2008, Emery had agreed to a tentative plea-bargain with U.S. authorities. The terms of the agreement were a 5-year prison term to be served in both Canadian
and U.S. prisons. In return, he demanded the charges against his friends Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams be dropped.
(An appeal court
judge ruled on March 7, 2008 in a similar case that a one-month jail sentence and probation constituted an adequate sentence for the crime of marijuana seed selling in Canada. This could possibly have been used to Emery's advantage in his fight against extradition.)
On March 27, 2008 the plea-bargain deal collapsed because of the refusal of the Canadian Conservative government to approve its side of the arrangement.
In late 2008, an extradition hearing was scheduled for June, 2009. However, before those hearings Emery agreed to plead guilty to one charge of drug distribution and accept a five-year sentence in the USA.
On September 21, 2009, Emery entered his guilty plea, and on September 28, he was incarcerated in a British Columbia prison awaiting extradition
to a US federal prison to serve the five year sentence. There is a 30 day appeal period before extradition.
Emery was granted bail on November 18, after seven weeks in the pre-trial centre, to await the Justice Minister's decision on the extradition order.
While Emery was imprisoned, his supporters held a permanent vigil outside the prison with tents and banners for 45 days, ending when Emery was released on bail.
On September 10, 2010, Emery was sentenced to 5 years in prison minus time served.
Until April 2011 Emery was held by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
at the D. Ray James Correctional Institution in Folkston, Georgia
.
On April 20, 2011, Emery was transferred to Yazoo City Prison in Mississippi
.
, as he has been refused a license renewal for his Vancouver businesses on West Hastings Street
. This comes despite his having made thousands of dollars worth of renovations as requested.
in the May 2009 election
, coming in third, losing to Liberal Party
member Kash Heed
. She is the BC Green Party's Policing and Crime Critic, and was elected as a Director-At-Large at the 2010 BC Green Party Annual General Meeting.
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
policy reform advocate, as well as a former cannabis seed seller. He is currently serving a five year sentence in a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
federal prison for selling cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
seeds.
Recent judicial history
US Government officials have described Emery as a drug dealer for his efforts to sell marijuana seeds nationally and abroad. He was the publisher of Cannabis CultureCannabis Culture Magazine
Cannabis Culture is a Canadian magazine and online magazine devoted to cannabis and the worldwide cannabis culture. Cannabis Culture publishes stories about the struggle to legalize marijuana, profiles of marijuana paraphernalia, articles on how to grow marijuana, interviews with prominent...
magazine, a founding member of the Freedom Party of Ontario
Freedom Party of Ontario
The Freedom Party of Ontario is a provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. It was founded on January 1, 1984 in London, Ontario by Robert Metz and Marc Emery, as a successor to the Unparty....
, the Marijuana Party of Canada
Marijuana Party of Canada
The Marijuana Party is a Canadian federal political party. Its agenda consists of ending prohibition of cannabis. With the exception of this one issue, the party does not have "official policy" in any other area...
and the BC Marijuana Party, founder of the Iboga Therapy House and founder of Pot TV
Pot TV
Pot TV is a web-based video channel owned by Canadian cannabis activist Marc Emery. Gregory Williams is the manager of the station, who along with Marc Emery and Michelle Rainey was arrested in July 2005 by Canadian police at the request of the US government following an investigation by the Drug...
. He ran for mayor of the city of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
in 1996, 2002 and 2008.
He is formerly a retailer of cannabis seeds for cultivation, having started Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds in 1995, which he ran until it was closed by a raid by Vancouver police
Vancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
acting on the request of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA) on July 29, 2005.
Emery was taken into custody on September 28, 2009, and held at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, BC, to await extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to the USA. On November 18, 2009, Emery was released on bail, pending the Canadian Minister of Justice signing the extradition order; and on May 10, 2010, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson
Rob Nicholson
Robert Douglas "Rob" Nicholson, PC, QC, MP , is the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. He is a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Niagara Falls for the Conservative Party and the current Minister of Justice after serving for one year as...
signed the order and ordered Emery to surrender to authorities, which he did that same day.
On May 10, 2010, Justice Minister Nicholson ruled Emery be extradited to the United States. He faces 5 years in the US penal system. The possibility exists Emery may be allowed to serve all or part of his sentence in Canada. US authorities have not rejected this option, should Canada make such a formal request.
On May 20, 2010, Emery was extradited to the United States. On May 24, he appeared in a Seattle courtroom and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
On June 3, officials at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac
Federal Detention Center, SeaTac
Federal Detention Center, SeaTac is a prison operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is located in SeaTac, Washington, near the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, south of downtown Seattle and north of Tacoma, west of the 200th Street exit at the Interstate 5...
, Washington gave Emery an official citation for allowing his wife, BC Green Party Director-at-Large Jodie Emery, to record a message from him over the phone, claiming it broke the prison's rule forbidding third-party calls. Emery was locked in a Segregated Housing Unit (SHU) for three weeks.
On September 10, 2010 in a Seattle court room, Marc Emery was sentenced to 5 years in prison. US district court judge Ricardo Martinez sentenced Emery, stating there was no question his actions were criminal and that Emery ensured others broke the law by selling them the seeds. The court noted Emery claimed on his website to have made some $3 million a year from selling seeds from his Vancouver headquarters. Emery donated almost all of the money generated from his seed sales to marijuana policy reform efforts. Emery's claims that his arrest was political were disputed by the prosecution.
On November 19, 2010 Marc Emery was transferred to the D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Folkston, GA. He has since been transferred to FCI Correctional Institution in Yazoo City, MS to serve the rest of his sentence.
Early career
At the age of 9 he started a business from his parents' home called Stamp Treasure, buying and selling stamps by mail order. Two years later he started another mail-order business called Marc's Comic Room.He dropped out of high school in 1975 at age 17 to purchase a used book store on Richmond Street in downtown London which he renamed City Lights Book Store. Emery operated the store for 17 years, selling it in 1992.
Shortly after opening the store, Emery began a three-year fight against the London Downtown Business Association for extracting mandatory fees from all core area shops for beautification and other programs.
Emery also ran an emergency garbage service in London for three weeks during a municipal garbage strike in 1986.
He first became politically active with the Libertarian Party of Canada
Libertarian Party of Canada
The Libertarian Party of Canada is a political party in Canada that subscribes to the tenets of the libertarian movement across Canada.-History:...
, and ran for the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
under that party's banner in the 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
. He received 197 votes in London East
London East
London East was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of London East and Middlesex ridings....
, finishing fourth.
Emery later left the Libertarians and became a London-area organiser for the Unparty. In 1983 Robert Metz, who had worked with Emery since 1980, was made president of the Unparty and later that year announced the Unparty would change its name to the Freedom Party of Ontario
Freedom Party of Ontario
The Freedom Party of Ontario is a provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. It was founded on January 1, 1984 in London, Ontario by Robert Metz and Marc Emery, as a successor to the Unparty....
, which continues to be a registered political party in the Province of Ontario. Emery served as the Freedom Party's Action Director from 1984 to 1990.
In 1984, Emery, the Freedom Party, and the No Tax for Pan-Am Games Committee (founded by Emery and Metz) successfully campaigned against London's bid for the 1991 Pan American Games
Pan American Games
The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
, saying the city would lose millions.
Emery ran as a candidate of the Freedom Party in the rural constituency of Middlesex
Middlesex (electoral district)
Middlesex was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario...
, near London, in the 1987 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
. He received 499 votes for a distant fifth-place finish.
In 1986 and 1987, Emery defied Ontario's Sunday shopping laws, finally facing eight charges after opening for eight Sundays in a row. In March 1988, he spent four days in jail after being convicted on the first of the charges and then refusing to pay the fine.
He also campaigned against London's by-law prohibiting sidewalk signs.
After resigning from the Freedom Party in 1990, Emery rented the London Regional Art & Historical Museum (now called Museum London) for his first pro-pot rally.
In 1991, Emery was convicted for selling copies of 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew was a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.- Early career :...
's rap CD As Nasty As They Wanna Be
As Nasty As They Wanna Be
As Nasty As They Wanna Be is the third album by Miami rap group 2 Live Crew. It was released in 1989, and became their largest seller, going 2x Platinum. In 1990, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the album was legally obscene; this ruling was later...
which had been deemed obscene and banned in Ontario. He was given one year probation, but immediately after sentencing he began selling marijuana-related literature and High Times Magazine, all in violation of Canadian law.
Emery invited local police to his store to arrest him, and even sold copies of the banned marijuana grow books right outside the London Ontario police station, but the police refused to charge him or interfere. He also sponsored visits from marijuana luminaries such as Ed Rosenthal
Ed Rosenthal
Ed Rosenthal is a California horticulturist, author, publisher, and Cannabis grower known for his advocacy for the legalization of marijuana use. He served as a columnist for High Times Magazine during the 80's and 90's...
, Steven Hager
Steven Hager
Steven Hager, a writer, journalist, filmmaker, and counterculture and cannabis activist, was born May 25, 1951, in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the son of Lowell P. Hager and Francis Erea Hager.-Early life and career:...
, Jack Herer
Jack Herer
Jack Herer was an American cannabis activist and the author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a book which has been used in efforts to decriminalize cannabis.-Biography:...
and Paul Mavrides
Paul Mavrides
Paul Mavrides is an American artist, best known for his critique-laden comics, cartoons, paintings, graphics, performances and writings that encompass a disturbing yet humorous catalog of the social ills and shortcomings of human civilization...
.
Much of this early period of Emery's life is featured in the 1992 documentary film Marc Emery: Messing Up the System scripted by London writers Chris Doty
Chris Doty
Chris Bourke Doty was a Canadian journalist, historian, award-winning documentary filmmaker, author and playwright, noted for his many contributions to the cultural life of his hometown of London, Ontario....
and Jason Rip., and a play called Citizen Marc: The Adventures of Marc Emery. The play was directed by John Gerry which opened in London on January 27, 2006. Emery was in attendance for the premiere. Doty committed suicide in the days that followed. The play won the Brickenden Awards for Best Ballyhoo, Best Actor and Best Director.
Marijuana seed business
Emery moved to Vancouver, British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
in March 1994, and founded a store called Hemp BC on July 7. His store played a major part in expanding Canada's then very small and underground industry in cannabis-related paraphernalia. Bongs and pipes are illegal in Canada under section 462.2 of the Criminal Code, and were not readily available in Canada at the time. Emery imported and wholesaled a variety of bongs, pipes and other cannabis-related items, and encouraged other people to open their own "Hemp Stores" across Canada.
In late 1994, a court challenge sponsored by Emery convinced an Ontario judge to overturn the Canadian prohibition on marijuana and drug-related literature, making it legal for High Times Magazine and marijuana grow books to be sold in Canada once more.
Emery began selling marijuana seeds in late 1994, after attending the High Times Cannabis Cup
Cannabis Cup
The High Times Cannabis Cup is the world’s preeminent Cannabis festival. Founded in 1987 by Steven Hager, the High Times Cannabis Cup takes place each November in Amsterdam. The event allows judges from around the world to sample and vote for their favorite marijuana strains...
and being inspired by a Dutch seed store named Sensi Seeds. In early 1995 he launched Cannabis Canada Magazine, which was renamed Cannabis Culture Magazine
Cannabis Culture Magazine
Cannabis Culture is a Canadian magazine and online magazine devoted to cannabis and the worldwide cannabis culture. Cannabis Culture publishes stories about the struggle to legalize marijuana, profiles of marijuana paraphernalia, articles on how to grow marijuana, interviews with prominent...
in 1998.
In December 1995, Emery and his seed business were featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, leading to a deluge of media attention. One month later, in January 1996, Hemp BC was raided by Vancouver police who seized Emery's bongs and seeds and charged him with selling marijuana seeds and "promoting vaporizers." He was later convicted and given a $2200 fine, $500 for each of four counts of selling marijuana seeds and $200 for vaporizer promotion.
Emery re-opened his store the next day, and continued to sell paraphernalia and marijuana seeds. By 1997 he had expanded his store to include a Grow Shop, a Legal Assistance Centre, and the Cannabis Cafe, which featured a custom-built vaporizer built into every table.
On October 12, 1997, Marc Emery was featured on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
Impact in an episode called "Canada Cannabis." The announcer referred to Emery as the "Prince of Pot" and the label stuck. This drew major international media attention to Emery and his Hemp BC store once more.
The Vancouver police returned on December 16, 1997, once again emptying his store of seeds and paraphernalia, as well as taking the vaporizers out of the Cannabis Cafe. Police claimed to have seized about $1.6 million worth of marijuana-related merchandise, plus tens of thousands of marijuana seeds.
Emery was jailed but not charged with any seed or paraphernalia offences but he was charged and convicted of "assaulting a police officer" because he spat on a police officer while they were forcibly removing protestors from in front of the store. In a later interview, Emery stated "I was found guilty and fined two hundred dollars. My defence was that it was justifiable as they were assaulting my employees. We have video tape of them kicking, shoving objects at, using a truncheon, and pulling on the hair of David Malmo-Levine and Ian Roberts. I wanted to show my disgust in a non-violent way, and to draw the police toward me and away from my employees."
Emery was also banned from returning to the 300 block of West Hastings, where his businesses were located.
Emery re-opened Hemp BC the next day but then sold the store to his manager shortly thereafter, who suffered repeated raids during 1998 and then had her business license revoked by the city.
Emery's seed business was raided again at its office location on April 30, 1998, and Emery was charged with selling marijuana seeds. Another raid on September 2, 1998, saw Emery jailed overnight again and his seeds confiscated, but no charges were laid. He was convicted from the April raid in 1999, and given a $2000 fine.
In August 1998, Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen
Philip Owen
Philip Walter Owen was the mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia from 1993 to 2002, making him one of Vancouver's longest serving mayors. His father was Walter S. Owen, who was Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1973 to 1978....
had told the New York Times that Hemp BC was "going to be toast by September."
Court documents showed that four American navy undercover agents attempted to buy marijuana and smoke it at the Cannabis Cafe. The documents showed the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy...
agents worked in a joint operation with Vancouver police in April 1998.
Emery was convicted on charges of selling marijuana seeds in 1998, and received a $2000 fine. He switched his walk-in marijuana seed business to mail-order only, and continued to publish Cannabis Culture magazine. In early 2000 he was expanding again, with the establishment of Pot-TV, a marijuana-related video channel.
In 2001, Emery was a featured presenter at Idea City, an annual gathering of notable Canadians organized by Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.-Early life and career:...
.
In November 2002, then US Drug Czar
Drug Czar
Drug Czar is an informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in the United States, following the U.S. use of the 'czar' term. The 'drug czar' title was first published in a 1982 news story by United Press International which reported that “Senators... voted 62–34 to establish a...
John Walters
John P. Walters
John P. Walters is the former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy . He held that position from December 7, 2001 to January 20, 2009. As the nation's "Drug Czar," Mr...
visited Vancouver to give a speech at a luncheon sponsored by the Vancouver Board of Trade
Vancouver Board of Trade
The Vancouver Board of Trade is a non-profit organization which seeks to "promote, enhance and facilitate the development of the region as a Pacific centre for trade, commerce and travel." It serves Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in a fashion similar to the Board of Trade or Chamber of...
. Emery bought a table for himself and other local cannabis activists, and heckled Walters as he spoke about the need for Canada to embrace the "War on Drugs."
From 1998 until his arrest in 2005, Emery paid provincial and federal taxes as a "marijuana seed vendor" totalling nearly $600,000.
Emery has described himself as a "major financial backer of almost every pro-pot effort in North America and many more around the world." He claims that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in election campaigning for the Canadian Marijuana Party, BC Marijuana Party and the Vancouver Marijuana Party. He also claims to have funded numerous marijuana activist groups, paid for several major legal challenges to aspects of Canada's cannabis laws, and made large donations to various pro-pot ballot initiatives in US states such as California, Nevada, Alaska and Arizona, plus financially backed pro-cannabis activities in New Zealand, Australia, Russia and elsewhere around the world.
Media and documentaries
Over his career, Emery has been covered in many newspaper articles and media appearances, including features in the front page of the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
TV, and CNN Radio News, ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, the USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, the Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
of India the National Enquirer, Rolling Stone Magazine, CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
, Forbes Magazine, Vancouver Magazine
Vancouver Magazine
Vancouver Magazine is an English-language lifestyle magazine focused on Vancouver, British Columbia and the Lower Mainland.Vancouver Magazine describes its mission as informing, guiding and entertaining residents of a "dynamic, international city."...
, 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, the New York Times and more.
Emery is featured in the 2007 CBC documentary film "Prince of Pot: The US vs. Marc Emery". He also appears in the 2007 documentary "Living Luminaries: The Serious Business of Happiness", a 2007 documentary called The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
The Union: The Business Behind Getting High is a 2007 documentary film by Canadian filmmaker Brett Harvey.-Synopsis:The film explores the illegal growth, sale and trafficking of marijuana. Its theatrical run was limited to film festivals...
, a 2005 documentary called "Escape to Canada" and the 2007 documentary "The Naked Queen".
Emery also appeared in the 2007 comedy documentary "Super High Me
Super High Me
Super High Me is a 2007 documentary film about the effects of smoking cannabis for 30 days. The documentary stars comedian Doug Benson. The documentary's name and its poster are plays on the 2004 documentary Super Size Me.-Synopsis:...
" and was featured in a December 2008 episode of National Geographic Explorer
National Geographic Explorer
National Geographic Explorer is an American documentary television series that originally premiered on Nickelodeon on April 7, 1985, after having been produced as a less costly and intensive alternative to PBS's National Geographic Specials by Pittsburgh station WQED...
called Marijuana Nation, and two National Geographic specials in 2009, one called "Inside Marijuana", the other called "Super Weed".
Emery's earlier career is featured in the 1992 documentary "Marc Emery: Messing up the System".
Emery's history of political activism, both before and since his involvement in the cannabis prohibition issue, was the subject of the in-depth documentary "The Principle of Pot", which was released in 2010.
Marijuana political parties
In 2000 he was a founding member of the Marijuana Party of CanadaMarijuana Party of Canada
The Marijuana Party is a Canadian federal political party. Its agenda consists of ending prohibition of cannabis. With the exception of this one issue, the party does not have "official policy" in any other area...
, a political party running to fully legalize (not just decriminalize
Decriminalization
Decriminalization or Decriminalisation is the abolition of criminal penalties in relation to certain acts, perhaps retroactively, though perhaps regulated permits or fines might still apply . The reverse process is criminalization.Decriminalization reflects changing social and moral views...
) cannabis. In 2001 he helped found the British Columbia Marijuana Party
British Columbia Marijuana Party
The British Columbia Marijuana Party is a minor political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia that advocates the legalisation of cannabis....
(BCMP), which he currently leads.
Emery ran for the Canadian House of Commons as a Marijuana Party Candidate in the 2000 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
, and finished sixth out of ten candidates in Vancouver Centre
Vancouver Centre
Vancouver Centre is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.-Geography:...
with 1,116 votes. Liberal Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry, PC, MP is a Canadian politician and physician. She is the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre.-Early life:Fry was born into poverty in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago...
won the riding.
The BCMP placed fifth in the 2001 provincial election
British Columbia general election, 2001
The British Columbia general election of 2001 was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001...
and was only a few hundred votes short of fourth place. Emery himself received 905 votes in Vancouver-Burrard, finishing fourth against BC Liberal
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
Lorne Mayencourt
Lorne Mayencourt
Lorne Mayencourt is a Canadian politician, who formerly represented the electoral district of Vancouver-Burrard in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a member of the BC Liberal party....
.
Emery has been the BC Marijuana Party's president since its founding, and also became party leader in 2003, when Leader Dana Larsen
Dana Larsen
Dana Albert Larsen is a Canadian author, politician and cannabis legalization activist.Larsen was the editor of Cannabis Culture magazine from its creation in 1994 until 2005, producing 54 issues with publisher Marc Emery, who now also serves as editor.Larsen was a founding member of both the...
resigned to join the NDP.
In the 2005 British Columbia election
British Columbia general election, 2005
The 38th British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia , Canada. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
, Emery ran for the BC Marijuana in Fort Langley-Aldergrove
Fort Langley-Aldergrove
Fort Langley-Aldergrove is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :- History :Fort Langley, the birthplace of British Columbia...
against provincial Solicitor General
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
Rich Coleman
Rich Coleman
Rich Coleman is British Columbia's Minister of Energy and Mines, minister responsible for Housing and MLA for the riding of Fort Langley-Aldergrove...
, but was defeated.
On July 30, 2008, Emery announced he was running for mayor of Vancouver in the November election, and MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
in the upcoming by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the constituency of Vancouver-Fairview
Vancouver-Fairview
Vancouver-Fairview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :-MLAs:#Gary Farrell-Collins, Liberal #Gregor Robertson, NDP #Jenn McGinn, NDP...
which remains vacant after Gregor Robertson
Gregor Robertson (politician)
Gregor Angus Bethune Robertson is a Canadian politician who has been the 39th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, since 2008. He was elected as part of the Vision Vancouver party slate...
won the Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver is one of three parties represented on Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election.-Formation:...
nomination to run for mayor.
Iboga Therapy House
In 2002, Emery founded the Iboga Therapy House, an ibogaine-assisted detoxification therapy program located on BC's Sunshine Coast. Emery and his staff offered free ibogaine therapy to volunteer heroin and cocaine addicts with a plant-based alkaloid called ibogaineIbogaine
Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as Iboga . A hallucinogen with both psychedelic and dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is being used...
, which eliminates withdrawal symptoms and helps produce the mental change needed to quit using.
Emery's Iboga Therapy House treated almost 60 people before he stopped funding in 2004, at a cost Emery states of over $2000 per person. The Iboga Therapy House became a non-profit society in 2005 and continues to offer ibogaine therapy as an independent organization.
Tokers Bowl
For four years, from 2002 to 2005, Emery sponsored the Vancouver Tokers Bowl, a four-day marijuana-judging event and cannabis party with 200 guests.Summer of Legalization Tour
In 2003, when the prohibition of cannabis in Canada was in limbo due to court decisions that struck down the marijuana laws because of flaws in the government's medicinal marijuana program, Emery launched "the Summer of Legalization" tour, travelling to 18 cities across Canada to openly smoke marijuana in front of police stations and demonstrate that marijuana was currently legal in Canada, as featured in the documentary Escape to Canada.Jailed in Saskatoon
On August 19, 2004, Emery was sentenced to 92 days in jail in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Emery had been convicted of trafficking because a witness saw him pass a joint in March 2004. Emery's supporters held an ongoing daily vigil outside the courthouse until he was released. On October 18 he was released from the Saskatoon correctional centreSaskatoon Correctional Centre
The Saskatoon Correctional Centre is an adult male, provincial correctional centre located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is one of four provincial correctional centres in the province including the Regina Correctional Centre, the Prince Albert Correctional Centre and the only female...
after serving 61 days of his sentence.
Federal NDP turned Provincial Green Party supporter
In federal politics, Emery has been a public supporter of the New Democratic PartyNew Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
since in 2003 Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
supported the legalization of marijuana. In November 2003, Layton was a guest on Emery's Pot TV program. During the 20-minute interview, Emery urged marijuana activists to support the NDP in the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
.
He endorsed Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson is a former Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004, representing the suburban Vancouver-area constituency of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party...
's candidacy in Vancouver Centre during the 2006 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
campaign, and obtained permission from a judge to have his bail conditions varied so that he could campaign for the NDP candidate.
In the 2009 BC provincial election, Emery supported the Green Party of British Columbia
Green Party of British Columbia
The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...
. His wife, Jodie Emery, was the BC Green candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Fraserview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :- Geography :...
.
2005 arrest and extradition proceedings
On July 29, 2005, Canadian police, acting on a request from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), simultaneously raided the BC Marijuana Party Bookstore and Headquarters in Vancouver and arrested Emery for extradition to the United States outside a local storefront in the community of LawrencetownLawrencetown, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
Lawrencetown is a village within Annapolis County in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada. As of 2006, the population was 668. Every year at the Lawrencetown Exhibition Grounds, the Annapolis Valley Exhibition is held, which is typically a very large gathering...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
where he was attending a HempFest.
American authorities charged Emery and co-defendants Gregory Keith Williams, 50, of Vancouver, BC and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, of Vancouver, BC with "'Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana", "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana Seeds" and "Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering". Even though all the alleged offenses occurred in Canada, Canadian police did not lay any charges.
The day of Emery's arrest, American DEA Administrator Karen Tandy admitted reasons behind the arrest were politically motivated by releasing the following statement, which praised blows dealt to the legalization movement:
Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group -- is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement.
His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.
Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General's most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets -- one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.
Emery was freed on a $50,000 bail and prepared to fight extradition in the courts.
International protests and rallies
On September 10, 2005, about seven weeks after Emery's arrest, over 40 demonstrations were held around the world to protest his impending extradition to the United States. Locations included Moscow, Prague, Wellington, Sydney, Mexico City, Paris, and London.On September 19, 2009, rallies were held in over 100 cities around the world in support of Marc Emery and opposition to his extradition to the USA. Locations included New York, London, Paris, Edmonton, Oslo, Lima, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Houston and many more.
On May 22, 2010, rallies and protests in support of Marc Emery were held in over 80 cities representing a dozen countries. Nations with rallies included Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Philippines, Denmark and Ireland. There were 40 participating cities across Canada and another two dozen across the USA.
Worldwide "Support Marc Emery" rallies are planned for September 18, 2012. So far over 80 cities have confirmed their participation.
Proceedings and guilty plea
Emery and his two associates, all charged in the United States with drug and money laundering offences, each faced a minimum 10-year sentence and the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted there.On January 14, 2008, Emery had agreed to a tentative plea-bargain with U.S. authorities. The terms of the agreement were a 5-year prison term to be served in both Canadian
Correctional Service of Canada
The Correctional Service of Canada , or CSC, is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and rehabilitation of convicted criminal offenders sentenced to two years or more...
and U.S. prisons. In return, he demanded the charges against his friends Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams be dropped.
(An appeal court
British Columbia Court of Appeal
The British Columbia Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of British Columbia and a number of boards and tribunals. The BCCA also hears criminal appeals from the Provincial Court of British...
judge ruled on March 7, 2008 in a similar case that a one-month jail sentence and probation constituted an adequate sentence for the crime of marijuana seed selling in Canada. This could possibly have been used to Emery's advantage in his fight against extradition.)
On March 27, 2008 the plea-bargain deal collapsed because of the refusal of the Canadian Conservative government to approve its side of the arrangement.
In late 2008, an extradition hearing was scheduled for June, 2009. However, before those hearings Emery agreed to plead guilty to one charge of drug distribution and accept a five-year sentence in the USA.
On September 21, 2009, Emery entered his guilty plea, and on September 28, he was incarcerated in a British Columbia prison awaiting extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to a US federal prison to serve the five year sentence. There is a 30 day appeal period before extradition.
Emery was granted bail on November 18, after seven weeks in the pre-trial centre, to await the Justice Minister's decision on the extradition order.
While Emery was imprisoned, his supporters held a permanent vigil outside the prison with tents and banners for 45 days, ending when Emery was released on bail.
On September 10, 2010, Emery was sentenced to 5 years in prison minus time served.
Until April 2011 Emery was held by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
at the D. Ray James Correctional Institution in Folkston, Georgia
Folkston, Georgia
Folkston is a city in and the county seat of Charlton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,178 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
On April 20, 2011, Emery was transferred to Yazoo City Prison in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
.
Business license
Emery says he has been having troubles with the City of VancouverGovernment and politics of Vancouver
Vancouver, unlike other British Columbia municipalities, is incorporated under a unique provincial statute, the Vancouver Charter. The legislation, passed in 1953, supersedes the Vancouver Incorporation Act, 1921 and grants the city more and different powers than other communities possess under...
, as he has been refused a license renewal for his Vancouver businesses on West Hastings Street
Hastings Street (Vancouver)
Hastings Street is one of the most important east-west traffic corridors in the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and used to be a part of the decommissioned Highway 7A...
. This comes despite his having made thousands of dollars worth of renovations as requested.
Personal life
On July 23, 2006, Marc Emery married Jodie Joanna Giesz-Ramsay (now Jodie Emery). Jodie Emery works as an editor on Cannabis Culture magazine. She works with her husband as a political activist seeking the end of marijuana prohibition and also seeks the repatriation of her husband back to Canada. She ran as a candidate for the BC Green PartyGreen Party of British Columbia
The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...
in the May 2009 election
British Columbia general election, 2009
The 39th British Columbia general election was held on May 12, 2009 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
, coming in third, losing to Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
member Kash Heed
Kash Heed
Kash P. Heed is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview....
. She is the BC Green Party's Policing and Crime Critic, and was elected as a Director-At-Large at the 2010 BC Green Party Annual General Meeting.
See also
- Cannabis Culture MagazineCannabis Culture MagazineCannabis Culture is a Canadian magazine and online magazine devoted to cannabis and the worldwide cannabis culture. Cannabis Culture publishes stories about the struggle to legalize marijuana, profiles of marijuana paraphernalia, articles on how to grow marijuana, interviews with prominent...
- British Columbia Marijuana PartyBritish Columbia Marijuana PartyThe British Columbia Marijuana Party is a minor political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia that advocates the legalisation of cannabis....
- Pot TVPot TVPot TV is a web-based video channel owned by Canadian cannabis activist Marc Emery. Gregory Williams is the manager of the station, who along with Marc Emery and Michelle Rainey was arrested in July 2005 by Canadian police at the request of the US government following an investigation by the Drug...
External links
- Cannabis Culture Home Page
- Pot TV Network
- Free Marc Home Page
- No Tax for Pan Am (Toronto, 2015), featuring Marc Emery's 1984 campaign literature and video
- Marc Emery on his libertarian activism in "The triumph of ideas"
- Marc Emery on abortion
- Bill St. Clair on Marc Emery
- Smoke Out America
- New York Times Profile of Marc Emery
- Marc Emery, Canada's Prince of Pot (article)
- Marc Emery's autobiography and Appeal to Society, "My message to you"
- Image gallery for activism to keep Marc Emery free.
- Globe and Mail: 'Prince of Pot' ties the knot
- Downloadable audio interview with Free Talk LiveFree Talk LiveFree Talk Live is an American call-in radio talk show heard seven nights a week. The program is hosted by Ian Freeman and Mark Edge on Tuesday through Saturday, Mark Edge and Stephanie Murphy on Sunday, and Ian Freeman and Dale Everett on Monday. It is a chiefly libertarian political talk show and...
- A Modern Day Thoreau
- http://www.youtube.com/user/JodieEmery - YouTube channel of jodie Emery which Marc Emery Frequents
Related video
- The Principle of Pot
- The Prince of Pot
- Marc Emery addresses Western Standard readers
- Prince of Pot: The USA vs. Marc Emery aired October 23, 2007 on CBC NewsworldCBC NewsworldCBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
- Canada - The Prince Of Pot - 52min sec - 11 September 2008, www.journeyman.tv (Ref: 4144)
- Profile and Interviews regarding Emery's extradition, CBC News: The HourCBC News: The HourGeorge Stroumboulopoulos Tonight is a Canadian television talk show broadcast on CBC Television and hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. Originally known as The Hour from 2005 to 2010, it first aired on January 17, 2005. The program is currently initially broadcast on CBC Television at 11:05 p.m....
, November 10, 2005; Retrieved December 28, 2005 - http://www.trailervision.com/trailer.php?id=158 Trailer for Escape to Canada documentary about the Summer of Legalization in which Emery played a critical role