Local supporters of Canada's so-called "Prince of Pot" will rally in front of City Hall on Saturday.
Marc Emery, 52, pleaded guilty in a Seattle courtroom on Monday to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and will receive a five-year prison sentence.
The owner of Vancouver's Cannabis Culture store was extradited to the United States last week after being charged with shipping millions of marijuana seeds to customers south of the border.
Nicole Raffa, 26, said as a marijuana user she has been following Emery's efforts to legalize cannabis for a number of years and believes he has been unfairly targeted.
The Red Deer resident said it is wrong that Emery is being prosecuted under U.S. laws when the Canadian government was well aware of his marijuana seed-selling business and chose not to charge him here in Canada.
To show support for Emery and to pressure the government to bring him back to Canada, Raffa is encouraging supporters to join her in front of City Hall from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
"There's been a whole bunch of rallies across Canada in support of him so I wanted to put one together in Red Deer to show that we supported him here as well."
The rally has been promoted mostly by word of mouth and a Facebook page. "We have a few people spreading the word as much we can, telling all their friends, getting it around.
"So far, we've had a lot of positive feedback. Most people are in support of him not being extradited and bringing him home."
Raffa hopes to get a least a couple of dozen people out and hopes for more. "I'd like to have a hundred or so but we'll see what happens."
Emery supporters will continue to draw attention to his case and his cause while he is in prison by staging rallies, she said.
"We think this is a big way to really speak out and get a lot of people's attention about it. It's being very publicized right now. Hopefully, if we can keep it rolling we can change some minds."
City Hall Park is also the site of an annual marijuana rally on April 20 as part of a global movement to show support for marijuana legalization by smoking pot publicly.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Red Deer Advocate
Author: Paul Cowley
Contact: Red Deer Advocate
Copyright: 2010 BlackPress
Website: Prince of Pot supporters to rally at City Hall on Saturday
Marc Emery, 52, pleaded guilty in a Seattle courtroom on Monday to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and will receive a five-year prison sentence.
The owner of Vancouver's Cannabis Culture store was extradited to the United States last week after being charged with shipping millions of marijuana seeds to customers south of the border.
Nicole Raffa, 26, said as a marijuana user she has been following Emery's efforts to legalize cannabis for a number of years and believes he has been unfairly targeted.
The Red Deer resident said it is wrong that Emery is being prosecuted under U.S. laws when the Canadian government was well aware of his marijuana seed-selling business and chose not to charge him here in Canada.
To show support for Emery and to pressure the government to bring him back to Canada, Raffa is encouraging supporters to join her in front of City Hall from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
"There's been a whole bunch of rallies across Canada in support of him so I wanted to put one together in Red Deer to show that we supported him here as well."
The rally has been promoted mostly by word of mouth and a Facebook page. "We have a few people spreading the word as much we can, telling all their friends, getting it around.
"So far, we've had a lot of positive feedback. Most people are in support of him not being extradited and bringing him home."
Raffa hopes to get a least a couple of dozen people out and hopes for more. "I'd like to have a hundred or so but we'll see what happens."
Emery supporters will continue to draw attention to his case and his cause while he is in prison by staging rallies, she said.
"We think this is a big way to really speak out and get a lot of people's attention about it. It's being very publicized right now. Hopefully, if we can keep it rolling we can change some minds."
City Hall Park is also the site of an annual marijuana rally on April 20 as part of a global movement to show support for marijuana legalization by smoking pot publicly.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Red Deer Advocate
Author: Paul Cowley
Contact: Red Deer Advocate
Copyright: 2010 BlackPress
Website: Prince of Pot supporters to rally at City Hall on Saturday
