# Marc Emery Gets High On The Seeds Of Activism



## LdyLunatic (Sep 7, 2006)

British Columbia
05 Sep 2006


MARC EMERY GETS HIGH ON THE SEEDS OF ACTIVISM 
by Debby Reis, 
Wanna Get High? 

When I walk into the small office below the BCMP store, Marc Emery is smoking some pot he received in the mail from a supporter out of a giant bong and asks if I want to get high. The experience has indeed begun. 

The well-known marijuana activist believes that "a journalist should be telling people what it's like to do stuff they can't do." He comments that usually all that's seen about what it's like to do drugs is a list of side effects that rarely describes the sensations he asserts having. Rather, he points to increased physical sensations, the change in time perception, libidinous expressions, and how pot acts as a creative tool -- although he admits that when it comes to doing work that requires attention to detail, being high may not be the way to go. Nevertheless, working when high becomes easier as you get older -- at least in Emery's experience, but this comes from experience. 

"The problem with a lot of young people is that they smoke pot first and maybe develop a discipline over time. I didn't smoke pot until I was 22," he says, which was well after Emery developed the discipline of work. At 17, Emery opened City Lights Bookstore in London, Ontario. His activism started shortly thereafter. He was put in jail for ignoring Ontario's ban on Sunday shopping hours and was convicted for selling 2 Live Crew's videos, which were deemed obscene, and took stands on other issues as well. But it is Emery's political activism concerning marijuana that has garnered him the nickname the Prince of Pot. 

Perhaps it was his first experience with the so-called illicit drug that led him to put so much money and effort into legalising the substance while simultaneously putting himself at risk of arrest and persecution. During the winter solstice of 1980, Emery had just fallen in love with Sandra Chrysler. They were making out and he felt the need to make a move, but before he had the chance, she asked if he wanted to smoke a joint. They did and suddenly, everything was amazing. The moon, the silence of the night, the cold in his fingers - -- it was all sensational. Then he went down on her. "It was like gliding over the wings of manta rays. Her labia lips were huge, it seemed to me, and they had this beautiful viscous element to them. And I was just gliding over them and I thought, 'Wow, this is really great.'"


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## LdyLunatic (Sep 7, 2006)

continued....



Planting seeds 

In the early '90s, Emery encouraged people to plant marijuana in the gardens of police officers, politicians, and other authority figures, and began selling publications promoting marijuana use, which were banned in Canada at the time. He hoped to get arrested for doing so, but it was surprisingly difficult. 

Nevertheless, this was the beginning of Emery's mission to have marijuana legalised. "Plant the seeds of freedom. Overgrow the government" has become a catch phrase for Emery ( and a way to sign autographs ). In Cannabis Culture Magazine, Emery writes that "inherent in that beautiful phrase are so many ideals and glories of a co-operative, peaceful society." 

After a short period of living in Asia, Emery moved to Vancouver in 1994 and opened Hemp BC. The police raided the store numerous times, as pot paraphernalia and publications were still prohibited in Canada. The law was overturned in 1995 and in the spring of that year, the first issue of Cannabis Canada ( later re-named Cannabis Culture ) was released, which was partially subsidised by Emery through Hemp BC. Today Emery is the magazine's publisher and editor. 

Cannabis Culture is just part of the subversive empire that includes Pot.TV, the B.C. Marijuana Party, and the now-out-of-business Marc Emery Direct Seeds -- all with the goal of ending marijuana prohibition. 

"The whole idea of the project was to raise millions of dollars and to fund a revolution . . . We paid for rallies everywhere -- in London, Paris. We had posters printed up in seven languages for rallies all around the world. 

We paid for the Supreme Court hearing in 2003 that tried to legalise pot. We paid for ballot initiatives in Alaska and Arizona, Nevada, Washington, D.C. -- totally subversive stuff," Emery says. And the seed business was the source of funding for all of it. 

Emery went on to say, "I gave money to Dennis Kucinich in 2004 for president and just gave it to some Americans to give to him. It's easy to launder money if that's what laundering is . . . helping participate in the democratic process. And that's what kills me. The only laundering I ever did [was give money] clearly and openly and nobody ever didn't take the money. 

Four million dollars I gave away and nobody ever said no." With the growth of the movement, Emery's "seeds" of a marijuana revolution were blooming, and the DEA took notice. 

Drug kingpin or politically persecuted? 

On July 29, 2005, Marc Emery was arrested while in Halifax for extradition to the U.S. for trafficking in marijuana seeds, conspiracy to produce marijuana, and for money laundering. Back in Vancouver, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams, Emery's fellow activists, were also arrested and the Drug Enforcement Agency ( DEA ) conducted a search of the BCMP bookstore looking for business records, seeds, and anything else that could be incriminating. According to Emery they found very little, and certainly nothing that one would expect to find in the possession of a drug dealer. 

Although Emery had been selling marijuana seeds in Canada for years - -- even claiming all of his income as a seed vendor on his income tax returns -- and had been charged twice for doing so, the penalty for the crime was a mere fine. In contrast, if he is extradited to the U.S., under "Drug Kingpin" legislation ( selling 60,000 or more seeds, plants, or kilograms of marijuana ) Emery could receive 17 to 21 years without probation plus a minimum of 10 years for money laundering. 

In 2003, the Vancouver Police Department investigated Emery's seed business and took their findings to the Crown Attorney of Canada, who did not lay charges. 

According to Emery, his file was turned over to the DEA later that year, who continued the investigation. In May 2005, a Seattle jury indicted Emery based on the evidence provided by the DEA. Irwin Cotler, Canada's attorney general, allowed the arrest because of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that Canada has with the U.S.A. 

Although there are numerous other seed vendors in Canada who sell their product to U.S. citizens in the same manner that Emery did, there are overarching political implications of Emery's arrest. Emery admits to have been taunting the DEA with his activism efforts. 

When John Walters, the U.S. "drug czar," was speaking in Vancouver at the Board of Trade in 2002, Emery paid for a table of 10 marijuana activists to be present. 

At the meeting Walters gave a speech on marijuana. "Every time he says a lie about marijuana, which is frequently, we say, 'Bullshit, liar, jailor, incarcerator' and eventually he cracks and gets really upset and he has a terrible meeting. 

He's humiliated, he's pissed off, and he want to strangle my ******* neck," Emery says. The Vancouver Police Department was also at the Board of Trade meeting and Emery claims that it was one month later that they began their investigation into his seed business. 

Even more convincing proof that the DEA investigation is politically motivated is the statement made by the DEA's Administrator Karen P. Tandy in a press release on the day of Emery's arrest. She stated: "Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalisation group, is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalisation movement . . . Drug legalisation lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on." 

Furthermore, in a statement provided by Libby Davies, the NDP's MP for Vancouver East, she states: "We should recognise that the arrests of these Canadian citizens is more related to political pressure on Canada to cooperate with the U.S. War on Drugs than on any harm that has been created by the actions of these individuals."


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## LdyLunatic (Sep 7, 2006)

continued...




Now what happens? 

Marc Emery Direct Seeds has been put out of business, as selling seeds would violate Emery's bail conditions. As a result, Emery is currently relying on donations from supporters to pay for legal fees, which are expected to be rather high. 

But the BC3 ( how Emery, Rainy, and Williams are being referred to ) are asking for help in other ways as well. T-shirts have been made, petitions are being passed around, and supporters are being asked to contact local politicians as well as the justice minister of Canada. 

On July 23, 2006, there was a change to the extradition laws made by the Supreme Court of Canada that may prove lucrative for the BC3. Under the new legislation, the judge residing over the case must decide if the court would find the accused guilty in Canada before handing them over to the state requesting extradition. Since Canada decided against charging Emery for seed selling in the past, and this is the basis of the charge in the U.S., it may cause problems for the DEA's case. 

On September 5, 2006 a court date will be set for the BC3's extradition hearing, which is expected to occur some time in May. 

Marriage, movie deals, and media coverage 

Emery will be able to count on at least one source of income for his legal fees. He is currently in talks with an undisclosed movie company, which is donating $10,000 to each of his lawyers for exclusive access to his life story for two years. 

The film is set to be released at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In mid-2007 the CBC will be showing a documentary that is currently being made, and Emery will also be appearing in The Serious Business of Happiness, which is due out later this year. In the film he tells the story of his first pot-smoking experience to the main character that is looking for guidance in life, of which an extended version will be available on the DVD. 

Besides film appearances, Emery has been featured on 60 Minutes, in The Washington Post, and The New York Times, among various other media sources. Meanwhile Cannabis Culture will be appearing in upcoming episodes of Weeds and Robson Arms. All of the media coverage and film appearances continue to add to the prominence of the marijuana movement in popular culture. 

On Sunday, July 23, Emery married his assistant editor at Cannabis Culture Magazine, Jodie Joanna Giesz-Ramsay, in a small ceremony in Queen Elizabeth Park, after which they shared their first joint together in front of their guests. Local media extensively covered the wedding. 

As reported in The Vancouver Metro, Emery stated that his wife will "have the authority of my name to run the magazine and Pot.TV, and credibility when she speaks on my behalf." Meanwhile, Giesz-Ramsay stated to Metro reporter Jeff Hodson, "I will support [Emery] no matter what happens in any situation." 

What if he goes to jail? 

When asked what will happen to his marijuana activism and businesses if he is incarcerated, Emery responded by saying, "If I do a good job before then, then everything should go on as normal. Without my classic presence perhaps, but . . . the job of leader is not to create followers, but to create more leaders and secondly to leave things so that people understand what their job is and make sure that the right people are behind it. I expect Pot.TV to continue and Cannabis Culture to continue, and the store and the vapour lounge and all the entities that we have going and perhaps new ones, too. And I hope to be still active from jail. I like a good confrontation, so if they put me in solitary and I go buggy or something like that then maybe people can have protests. 

Let's hope, anyway." 

Stoner Flicks 

In the small garden behind the BCMP bookstore, I ask Marc Emery if he believes that stoner movies help marijuana activism. 

He doesn't think so, but "the great thing is that stoners can laugh at themselves, so we enjoy those movies," he says. 

He mentions that movies like Half-Baked and Homegrown, while amusing, are quite cliched and that he prefers Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, which has become a favourite. "I love that movie precisely because they're anti-stereotypes -- one's East Indian, the other's a Chinese math student, but they're very moral and ethical people, so you like them and you're meant to like them the whole time, but they are totally chronic. 

They smoke in every possible way. They're getting the munchies in some fanatical way and hence their journey. 

It's interesting that the pothead's principal journey is to find food. And that's very amusing." 

Other favourites include the first Friday movie and Saving Grace, of which he says, "That's almost a perfect film." 

What's lacking, however, is a pot hero. "We need that kind of guy -- who's got a bomber of weed and he's a heroic character and he's taking it to a medical marijuana hospital somewhere where they're going to be doing weed therapeutics. And he's got to get through and he has to deal with the CIA and the DEA and gets through it all and ends up in this final mission dropping millions of seeds all over the White House or something like that . . . where we triumph over the bad guys in a political as well as weed context."


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## astra007 (Sep 7, 2006)

CONMAN OR ACTIVIST?  every1 has to start somewhere eh?  but at the expense of others who he sold inferior and fake genetics.  i guess every1 has to start somewhere AND END SOMEWHERE.   he gave 4 million dollars away?  this was originally reported as 400,000.00 but this must have raised questions eh?  ask yerself?  who in their right mind would give it all away?  or is he trying to be jesus?  karma and karma only has directed his life and actions?  notice he doesnt seem to need anything.  and is always pleading fer more donations,  what next, shaven head and pink robes?  he would make a good 1.  

i believe in medical marijuana and therefore in activism but the MEDIA has created a guru - the prince of pot - out of a CONMAN.  wrong choice.  but what the hey eh?  if the means justify the end eh?  WHAT we need is a KING OF POT and junior will just fade away, somewhere in an american prison.


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## LdyLunatic (Sep 8, 2006)

seems you and i share some common thoughts on the supposed Prince...

i am wondering myself if Canada is in on the extradition...may just be Canada's answer to shutting him up...

IMO...he has done nothing but cause negative effect on the movement as a whole


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## astra007 (Sep 8, 2006)

i belong to www.calgary420.ca which is an activist site and who the owner sends donations to all in trouble.  enter the ding dong, chris who owns UP IN SMOKE.  now chris pleaded, im broke too, dont they all?  so several peeps chipped in fer his bail - which he promptly violated the request set as a condition of the bail and got rearrested.  who cares; chris did not pay the bail.  inconsiderate moron.  anyway, guess who claimed that he paid ALL of chris's bail?  to the media.  M.S. EMERY, yup. no mention of any1 else.  and then stated that no1 would send chris any money for bail now.  who would when the last money was thrown away by ding dong?  would you?  when asked why he said the statement to the media - mr. marc stupid emery replied:  it was my interview, they came to me, thus should i not get the credit?  this is our representative?  well, you all can have him.  why do you think, he is in ontario?  WE know WHO he is in BC.  And we dont want him.


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## W Ã¯ l l (Sep 8, 2006)

Societal shit stirrer or peddler of inferior and or mis-labeled seeds...matters not to me the man's back round, integrity and motivations...

Yanking someone out of their home nation just so tax payers in another society can foot the bill for feeding and housing the guy for 20 years is a no-go in my book. 

It sets a lousy precedence...Canada will begin letting the DEA coime along and see to the Emery's of the place that they can't be bothered to bother with. It hasn't happened as yet...but should the DEA manage to make an example out of him and the other BC3...it's likely there'll be more to follow. 

Who wants that sort of thing occuring? Not me!

There's a much larger principal in violation with scary potential ramifications if the BC3 are extradited to the states...

Don't get side-tracked by opinions of the man's character. 

I'm not saying be supportive of him per se, but for sure don't go endorsing the DEA crossing the border to steal away 3 of Canada's potheads.


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## astra007 (Sep 8, 2006)

ah come on will, please take him.  you have loads of big horney guys in yer prisons.


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## seattle420 (Sep 8, 2006)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1225/a09.html?259159

U.S.  SHOULD LEAVE CANADIAN ALONE 

I am very much against the Drug Enforcement Agency's attack on Canadian citizen Marc Emery ( Saturday article, " 'Prince of Pot' arrested on seed-selling charges." ) They make him sound like a drug kingpin - he's just an effective activist for the legalization of marijuana worldwide. 

Marijuana should be legal in all its forms - food, fiber and medicine. 

No one has ever died from marijuana.  It does not lead to harder drugs, is not addictive and has proven medicinal value that outweigh any side effects. 

It is legal in several states for medical use.  In Canada, low-THC hemp is proving to be a crop that may save American farmers by being grown for its fiber. 

Thomas Jefferson grew it on his farm at Monticello.  Why can't we? Surely we can find a better use for the millions we spend trying to eradicate this valuable plant. 

The U.S.  government is acting like a big bully. 

DARRAL GOOD


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## astra007 (Sep 8, 2006)

im not attacking any aspect of marijuana, as you would see if you took the time to read my posts.  im attacking m.s.emery and im justified by personal experiences.  there is an association who invested several thousand dollars in false genetics and bad seeds that were advertised for sale from dutch passion on his website.  dutch passion never heard of m.s. emery nor was he a distributor of theirs.  THEY sent our compassion club and medical growers free seeds.  the man is a CONMAN.  send the so called - prince of pot here and we will use him fer fertilizer.  enough said.


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## seattle420 (Sep 8, 2006)

there is always a knocker on every web site i ever posted on.

I admire the man for his eloquence, haven't you ever watched pot tv.net?

he's a great guy, didn't you see him on 60 minutes?

I got a hold of some his finest seeds back in the day

the real mcoy
by howard marks.

it was the real deal for sure.

I didn't have to buy them either. they were donated to me by a friend.

Marc emery can back up everything he says.


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## Mutt (Sep 8, 2006)

I hate to say it. Don't really pay attention to him. I support my Norml and stuff. Living where I'm at...hell I'd be happy to carry a gram with no **. Hell a joint. Extradiction. Well IMHO opinion. Which god forbid this happens. I'd hate life. (I like any bank sendin to the US) The dude knew what kinda trouble he "could" get into shippin to the US. So if he wasn't prepared for the consequences so be it. hey being a martyr has the same outcome no matter what cause you stand behind. So I wish him luck, but I got my own things to fight for. Yep, I live in the US.


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## LdyLunatic (Sep 9, 2006)

Mutt....good post  

i hear ya ....i pretty much do my own thing and avoid the Emery bandwagon...

like you said...i got my own things to worry about


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## astra007 (Sep 9, 2006)

hey, seattle420, send some money to marc, he needs it.  adolph hitler had some good aspects too, but i dont have to like him.  happy growin.


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## seattle420 (Sep 11, 2006)

I already did buy a t-shirt. 

 I don't think you are correct when you say that hitler had some good points.

YOU say that SOME people got some inferior genetics.

 I say they must have bought way too little seeds, and then failed in the germination stage.

out of ten seeds, you can expect to end up with  three females that are good enough for mother plants.

so then they started  complaining. instead of trying again.

they probably aren't very good growers.

then came the cyber knockers, spreading rumors.


think about it, why would marc sell inferior seeds? he must have got at least some repeat customers.

I don't wanna argue about it, I jsut want to see him remain in canada.
no extradition.


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## seattle420 (Sep 11, 2006)

I went to that site you mentioned- calgary420.ca

they say nothing about giving away free seeds, and yes they are an activist site,

but they also DO have a link to the FREE THE BC THREE website.

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4481.html

right there on their web site.


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## astra007 (Sep 11, 2006)

who the h said free seeds, i didnt?  im a global mod there and im an activist.  im not going to give you a history lesson on hitler nor am i gonna defend myself on the actions of a conman.  you can do as you please.  m.s. emery comes from BC, so do i.  i have met him personally.  notice something - yer the only 1 defending him.  i've been growing mj probably longer then you have been alive and know the ratio's.  if yer only getting 3 out of 10; yer getting ripped off, sad to say.


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## seattle420 (Sep 12, 2006)

"i belong to www.calgary420.ca which is an activist site and who the owner sends donations to all in trouble."

 okay whatever oh moderate one


so are you mad at marc because he supposedly sent out "inferior" seeds, or are you mad at him for getting in trouble?


he's the most eloquent stoner I have ever met.

wow your calgary 420 site must be the place to be


okay out of ten seeds you'll be lucky if 8 germinate
out of 8 seeds 4 will become male
and so your right, I was wrong,  4 mother plants obtained from ten seeds.

you wish that all ten seeds would become females.

then you'd not call him a rippoff

I been growing for ten years. I grow big huge lush vital trees.

I wish you much success in your garden.


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## seattle420 (Sep 12, 2006)

Schwarzenegger is quoted as saying, according to ABC News,

 'I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power. I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for what he did with it.'


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## astra007 (Sep 12, 2006)

lets see; he created the volkswagon for the people, started state medical for all and had rapists shot so that women could walk the streets at any hour.  then he went off the deep end and the rest is history.  as for yer slights against me fer all the rest - get a life.  you got yer opinion of m.s.e. and i have mine   bye, bye


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## seattle420 (Sep 12, 2006)

dude, i am sorry if you take what a write as a slight to you or hitler.

I didn't mean to offend you or hitler.

but did you know that the calgary420 web site supports the FREE THE BC 3 campaign?

isn't that amazing?


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## astra007 (Sep 12, 2006)

nope, not amazing at all.  i dont believe that any misdeed should lead to extradition, period.  and all there know i dont like him but THEY ARE CANADIAN, right?


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