Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Although he could be facing a trip to a U.S. prison next week, marijuana activist Marc Emery is unrepentant.
"No government has the right to outlaw and put people in jail for a peaceful, honest lifestyle choice," Emery, who has been arrested 26 times on marijuana or related charges, told CTV's Canada AM Friday. "And that's how we think of marijuana."
Emery, 51, was indicted by American authorities in 2005 on drug and money-laundering charges stemming from his lucrative mail-order pot-seed business run out of Emery's Vancouver book and paraphernalia shop, which also doubled as B.C.'s Marijuana Party headquarters.
Charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering were later dropped in exchange for his guilty plea on the charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
He has agreed to a plea bargain that would send him to a U.S. prison for a five-year sentence in connection with his $3-million a year marijuana seed catalogue business, which sold mostly to American.
"The whole idea was for me to provide more marijuana than could possibly be eradicated by the governments of the world," Emery said. "I'm probably responsible for millions and millions of pounds of marijuana every year."
Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has yet to formally approve Emery's extradition and must do so by May 10.
Emery says thousands of supporters, many of them from his Marijuana Party, have written the minister to urge him not to send him south of the border.
"I didn't sell marijuana ever in my life: I've only sold seeds … and when you make laws against seeds, something really central and vital to life, then you know that your government is a tyranny."
Emery will be in Toronto on Monday to speak to the Global Marijuana March and to urge the city's pot activists to keep up the pressure to legalize marijuana.
"History has got to be made and I feel like I'm the unique Canadian who perhaps can push it just over that tipping point and make marjana legal," he told Canada AM. "The Canadian people support the legalization of marijuana.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: ctv.ca
Copyright: 2010 CTV
Contact: CTV News | --Contact Us
Website: Pot activist unrepentant despite pending jail term - CTV News
"No government has the right to outlaw and put people in jail for a peaceful, honest lifestyle choice," Emery, who has been arrested 26 times on marijuana or related charges, told CTV's Canada AM Friday. "And that's how we think of marijuana."
Emery, 51, was indicted by American authorities in 2005 on drug and money-laundering charges stemming from his lucrative mail-order pot-seed business run out of Emery's Vancouver book and paraphernalia shop, which also doubled as B.C.'s Marijuana Party headquarters.
Charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering were later dropped in exchange for his guilty plea on the charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
He has agreed to a plea bargain that would send him to a U.S. prison for a five-year sentence in connection with his $3-million a year marijuana seed catalogue business, which sold mostly to American.
"The whole idea was for me to provide more marijuana than could possibly be eradicated by the governments of the world," Emery said. "I'm probably responsible for millions and millions of pounds of marijuana every year."
Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has yet to formally approve Emery's extradition and must do so by May 10.
Emery says thousands of supporters, many of them from his Marijuana Party, have written the minister to urge him not to send him south of the border.
"I didn't sell marijuana ever in my life: I've only sold seeds … and when you make laws against seeds, something really central and vital to life, then you know that your government is a tyranny."
Emery will be in Toronto on Monday to speak to the Global Marijuana March and to urge the city's pot activists to keep up the pressure to legalize marijuana.
"History has got to be made and I feel like I'm the unique Canadian who perhaps can push it just over that tipping point and make marjana legal," he told Canada AM. "The Canadian people support the legalization of marijuana.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: ctv.ca
Copyright: 2010 CTV
Contact: CTV News | --Contact Us
Website: Pot activist unrepentant despite pending jail term - CTV News