'Prince of Pot' Marc Emery Sentenced To Five Years in US Prison

1976 movie "Network"

 

I didn't know things were that shitty yet back in 1976. I thought those issues were more of a 21st century thing.

 

I think it's a matter of time before they suck it up and admit they're wrong. They already know how much money they could make off legalizing or at least implementing cannabis as a substantial part of the medical industry, compared to how much they sink into "The War." No one likes to admit they're wrong, especially the goverment, so it's a slippery slope for them to do a 180 on a subject they've been fighting for so long, without them confusing, angering, or losing the trust of the general populace.

That's what I think anyway...

 

^ And I think she's right!

But we will have to keep on pressing, and be very open with our opinions =)

 

The U.S. essentially held a financial gun to Canada's head and threatened to limit trade and commerce if Canada didn't hand Emery over. Can't find the link to the documentation of that at the moment (I have thousands to sort through of stuff like that)

Gas rationing...recession....unemployment
The '70's weren't all that great.
Gas rationing
You could only buy gas every other day, based on your license plate number, even or odd. I remember waiting in lines that literally were a block long to purchase gas. That happened twice during the decade, If I remember correctly. Today they ration it by making it so fucking expensive that the price alone limit your purchase.

 

That's interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.

 

The AMA has already petitoned for the immediate re-scheduling of marijauna.

http://www.theweeklyconstitutional.com/news/headlines/334

http://www.nowpublic.com/health/utah-law-review-joins-ama-call-marijuana-rescheduling

My god, if the stinking Mormons in Utah can see this What the hell is wrong with the rest of the world?????

 

The DEA also threatened to tighten control over the borders, which would also have a negative impact on Canada.

I've got to try and find those links

 

This is hardly surprising- no more so than the fact that what effectively qualifies as blackmail on the part of the United States didn't exactly get front page news coverage. I did a brief search but could come up with nothing to substantiate this as part of persuading Canada to extradite him... but to say that the tactic is out of character for the US would be a bit naive at best. While I have some degree of doubt it would not surprise me at all if this were proven to be the case.

What's more notable is the gas crunch of '73 was an artificial shortage created by middle east countries pissed at the United States decision to equip the Israeli military in their conflict with Egypt and Syria. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to argue that the oil embargo helped precipitate the recession. It also demonstrated to oil producing countries that their natural resource carried great potential for use as political clout and its parity with military action to alter the balance of power- leveraged diplomacy.

It illuminates what's really important to those who govern- money and power. Threaten either and they take notice. Matters like justice and sovereignty are little more than buzz word ideals bandied about for our consumption- effectively grist in the propaganda mill intent on cultivating in minds that have been primed by an "educational" system the unquestioning assumption that Washington, D.C. actually gives a flying fuck about them.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Unfortunately, Marc Emery made himself a target... or perhaps this is fortunate in that in acting to visibly enforce an unjust law the United States can draw more needed focus to the solution which is legalization. The key is for people in sufficient numbers to make it known that support for such injustice will cost our congresspeople their cushy positions.

Enabling the "war on drugs" propagandists to suggest that marijuana use predisposes one to criminal behavior is not advisable- so actions like Emery's should be done sparingly. Our collective energy may be better harnessed crafting a reasonable framework for legalization that benefits those in charge- or who hope to be- and maintain enough "noise" to remind them that we are watching.

 

That would be good.

I found this somewhat interesting to note about Emery;

"I regret the example we set," Emery told him, "and I won't be doing that again."

"I'd like to point out though that it made it sound like I'm a bad guy . . . but I had very good intentions and wanted to be considered a proper participant in our society. I do believe that these prohibition laws create a lot of problems and create organized crime."

In a letter given to the judge prior to sentencing, Emery said he was "over-zealous and reckless" and "acted arrogantly in violation of U.S. federal law.

"I regret not choosing other methods — legal ones — to achieve my goals of peaceful political reform."

Althought I believe in the idea behind legalization I found these quotes particularily interesting. Has anyone ever seen the movie "Blow" starring Johnny Depp? He gets busted because he just wants, "one last run".

Why I find these quotes interesting is because they don't sound like the words of a political activist who believes in his cause. Sure, showing you understand you broke the law is one thing, but this sounds more like the words of someone who is sort of sorry that they got caught and can now not retire with his good looking younger wife and their millions of dollars he made over the past decade or more selling cannabis seeds to all over the world because he believed it was right to do so.

Asked how much money he has made in this business over the years, Emery says, "I would say that our sales of seeds over 10 years probably were around $15 million."

Hindsight is fine, which is most likely what he's expressing, yet his words come off with a hint of him having abandoned ship. Particularily this line;

"I regret not choosing other methods — legal ones — to achieve my goals of peaceful political reform."

It is interesting to note all of this (below) when considering the above quote, as these are those legal methods he expressed regret for not exploring before hand;

In 2000 he was a founding member of the Marijuana Party of Canada, 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.[82][83]

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.[84]

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.

So he has in fact tried legal methods for what he does. Despite having said he regrets that he didn't. He's tried for 10 years in fact. All this to say that although I agree with his cause and was at first sympathetic to his plight, I can easily see why he is in the predicament he is in today. I can also see that he seems to regret not stopping his criminal activity sooner and that he is now trying to butter up the media by speaking openly about his redemption, not his former cause.


http://cannabisculture.com/v2/conte...Pot-Marc-Emery-Sentenced-Five-Years-US-Prison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Emery#Canadian_and_BC_Marijuana_Parties

 

Damn, I can't remember where I read that!
It was something along the lines of "veiled threats" concerning the border and ease of trade.
Maybe I am mixing things up, it was a few years ago when they first proposed the extradition.
I do know that Emery was coerced into agreeing because they threatened to throw his friends/colleagues in prison for a long time as well. Kind of like "you or them".

 

From what I've read, marc and his wife repeatedly ripped off and generally lied to the seed market in canada to get free seeds, and destroyed the markets credibility and almost brought it down just as it got started.

Just sayin. There's people shipping seeds to the US as part of businesses right now not in trouble, if you don't make a fool of yourself, you're not a target.... I guess?

 

Ok. this is shit, Emery should not have to go to prison at all... But hes only getting 5 years?? That is a much smaller time than a few years ago when they were threatening him for life. I mean this has been in the courts for a while, it could be a lot worse, perhaps he should just take the five years and start off fresh insted of dragging it through the courts which could take just as long. idk.

 

See, i dont understand him and or the goverment. Its bullshit beyond belief. Pot should be legal and everybody should be smoking it. What i dont get is why this one small guy is arrested and millions of other suppliers and living at large. ???