SirBlazinBowl
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A New Westminster woman says she doesn't know why United States officials want to extradite her, but she suspects it's more about politics than fighting crime and certainly has nothing to do with logic.
"It's all based on a seed business that I do not own or have anything to do with," says Michelle Rainey, who's been charged following an 18-month U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigation that also targeted fellow marijuana activists Marc Emery and Greg Williams. "( The reason why ) is what I'm wondering. I don't know - that's the truth. "Whether because I'm the vice-president of the political party or ( Emery's ) partner, ...."
Rainey explains she's not a romantic partner but "partners in activism" with Emery, who ran a marijuana seed business. Since the arrest, it has closed down and the website warns of traps set by the DEA to lure those who would buy marijuana seeds. The DEA became involved when Emery's customer base spread on the Internet to the United States. The Vancouver police raided the B.C. Marijuana bookstore at the request of the DEA on July 29 and the three were arrested.
They have been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in Washington State on charges of conspiracy to engage in money laundering and conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds. If they are extradited and convicted in the States then sentenced to consecutive terms on the charges, the trio could end their lives in a U.S. prison.
Rainey said she became involved with marijuana activism as a proponent of medical marijuana use, which she needed to treat an inflammatory bowel disease.
"I quit a 10-year banking career to work for ( Emery ) because I have Crohn's disease," she explained. "That's when my activism began. Marijuana has saved my life."
She has been involved in the B.C. Marijuana Party from its early days and, in addition to her position as vice-president, was financial agent for all its candidates in the last provincial election.
That is her only connection to and use for the drug, she said, emphatically adding she has had no tangles with the legal system before the DEA charges.
Rainey was born and raised in New Westminster and attended Lord Kelvin Elementary and New Westminster Secondary schools, graduating in 1989.
She returned to the Royal City to live after working on the Sunshine Coast for 10 years.
Rainey is the co-owner with Emery of the B.C. Marijuana Party bookstore, whose staff called her on the morning of July 29 to say they were being raided.
At about 11:30 a.m., a Vancouver police officer called her to say there was a warrant for her arrest.
It was her first inkling that she was in trouble, and Rainey says she promised to come down within a couple hours, and then did, noting that she wasn't picked up at her home, as has been previously reported.
The RCMP had arrested Emery in Lawrencetown, N.S., where he was attending a hemp festival, while Vancouver police arrested Williams.
"I was handcuffed, shackled, strip-searched and moved from cell to cell until I lost count of how many I'd been in," Rainey said.
Her lawyer arrived at about 4 p.m. and they learned the DEA was asking for a $50,000 bail before she could be released, an amount Rainey said was "obscene," especially considering she's always been a law-abiding citizen.
"I pay my taxes, I pay my dues," she says. "I have never done anything to my country in my entire life."
Rainey adds she has worked her entire adult life and never had financial assistance because of her disability.
But once they heard what the DEA were asking for, the seriousness of her situation started to register.
"The ramifications of it all didn't come to me until, of course, I was sitting in court."
She was released that evening on $25,000 bail, although both Williams and Emery were held for a longer period before being released on $50,000 bail.
Their next court appearance, on Sept. 16 in Vancouver, is just to set another date for the next hearing, she explained.
The experience, Rainey says, was "frightening" and the stress of not knowing what was going on exacerbated her medical condition.
"My body went into shock," she adds, explaining she didn't have anything to eat or drink during her time in custody.
"At that point, I didn't even know if I was going to be staying in Canada that night or what was going to happen to me."
Rainey firmly believes she wouldn't survive time in a U.S. prison because she wouldn't have the medical treatment she needs which, in this country, includes the use of marijuana.
"I'd die within a few months because I'd be without medicine. I want to die in my own country."
Newshawk: SirBlazinBowl - 420Times.com
Source: Record, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact: editorial@royalcityrecord.com
Website: https://www.royalcityrecord.com/
Author: Mia Thomas
"It's all based on a seed business that I do not own or have anything to do with," says Michelle Rainey, who's been charged following an 18-month U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigation that also targeted fellow marijuana activists Marc Emery and Greg Williams. "( The reason why ) is what I'm wondering. I don't know - that's the truth. "Whether because I'm the vice-president of the political party or ( Emery's ) partner, ...."
Rainey explains she's not a romantic partner but "partners in activism" with Emery, who ran a marijuana seed business. Since the arrest, it has closed down and the website warns of traps set by the DEA to lure those who would buy marijuana seeds. The DEA became involved when Emery's customer base spread on the Internet to the United States. The Vancouver police raided the B.C. Marijuana bookstore at the request of the DEA on July 29 and the three were arrested.
They have been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in Washington State on charges of conspiracy to engage in money laundering and conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds. If they are extradited and convicted in the States then sentenced to consecutive terms on the charges, the trio could end their lives in a U.S. prison.
Rainey said she became involved with marijuana activism as a proponent of medical marijuana use, which she needed to treat an inflammatory bowel disease.
"I quit a 10-year banking career to work for ( Emery ) because I have Crohn's disease," she explained. "That's when my activism began. Marijuana has saved my life."
She has been involved in the B.C. Marijuana Party from its early days and, in addition to her position as vice-president, was financial agent for all its candidates in the last provincial election.
That is her only connection to and use for the drug, she said, emphatically adding she has had no tangles with the legal system before the DEA charges.
Rainey was born and raised in New Westminster and attended Lord Kelvin Elementary and New Westminster Secondary schools, graduating in 1989.
She returned to the Royal City to live after working on the Sunshine Coast for 10 years.
Rainey is the co-owner with Emery of the B.C. Marijuana Party bookstore, whose staff called her on the morning of July 29 to say they were being raided.
At about 11:30 a.m., a Vancouver police officer called her to say there was a warrant for her arrest.
It was her first inkling that she was in trouble, and Rainey says she promised to come down within a couple hours, and then did, noting that she wasn't picked up at her home, as has been previously reported.
The RCMP had arrested Emery in Lawrencetown, N.S., where he was attending a hemp festival, while Vancouver police arrested Williams.
"I was handcuffed, shackled, strip-searched and moved from cell to cell until I lost count of how many I'd been in," Rainey said.
Her lawyer arrived at about 4 p.m. and they learned the DEA was asking for a $50,000 bail before she could be released, an amount Rainey said was "obscene," especially considering she's always been a law-abiding citizen.
"I pay my taxes, I pay my dues," she says. "I have never done anything to my country in my entire life."
Rainey adds she has worked her entire adult life and never had financial assistance because of her disability.
But once they heard what the DEA were asking for, the seriousness of her situation started to register.
"The ramifications of it all didn't come to me until, of course, I was sitting in court."
She was released that evening on $25,000 bail, although both Williams and Emery were held for a longer period before being released on $50,000 bail.
Their next court appearance, on Sept. 16 in Vancouver, is just to set another date for the next hearing, she explained.
The experience, Rainey says, was "frightening" and the stress of not knowing what was going on exacerbated her medical condition.
"My body went into shock," she adds, explaining she didn't have anything to eat or drink during her time in custody.
"At that point, I didn't even know if I was going to be staying in Canada that night or what was going to happen to me."
Rainey firmly believes she wouldn't survive time in a U.S. prison because she wouldn't have the medical treatment she needs which, in this country, includes the use of marijuana.
"I'd die within a few months because I'd be without medicine. I want to die in my own country."
Newshawk: SirBlazinBowl - 420Times.com
Source: Record, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact: editorial@royalcityrecord.com
Website: https://www.royalcityrecord.com/
Author: Mia Thomas
