[420 Girl]

If you’ve never heard of Marc Emery, it’s not for lack of trying on his part. The self-proclaimed “Prince of Pot” has been dogging Canadian police and government officials for years now, as the head of the B.C. Marijuana Party, the publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and the net broadcaster of PotTV.

Emery has had far more than his 15 minutes of fame as the subject of numerous newspaper articles, blog entries and TV news clips.

He’s been the subject of a 60 Minutes segment and the CBC has aired a documentary about him, sparked by his 2005 arrest at the request of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. His crime? Selling millions of marijuana seeds through his mail-order Internet business to would-be growers around the world, and more specifically, in the U.S.

Emery was most recently in the news for his extradition to the U.S. to face those charges. On Monday, Emery surrendered himself to sheriffs in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

I’ve known Emery since just before his big arrest (he’s been busted numerous times for pot possession). That’s when my partner and I, with an eye on filming a documentary, began interviewing Emery and the colourful cast of characters that make up the anti-cannibis prohibition movement in Vancouver.

It’s been a bit of a one-sided relationship, I guess, because I’m sure he only just started remembering my name, despite me having interviewed him dozens of times. That could be because of the throng of reporters and cameramen that have followed him throughout the years (he lives and dies by media coverage) or maybe because of his copious pot consumption. Wherever Marc is, there’s usually a bong and a cloud of smoke hovering nearby.

Not all the anti-cannabis prohibition activists will agree that the flamboyant Emery is the best thing for the movement. He’s loud, arrogant and relentless in his criticism of the Canadian government, indeed all governments, and the criminalization of marijuana. His motto? Overgrow the Government! His strategy over the years has amounted to the same tactic I used to get my mother to relax the rules when I was a teen; keep breaking them until they get tired of trying to enforce them.

Emery and his stoned cronies have worked out of a building at Hastings and Cambie for years, in an area that’s become known as the Pot Block, using it as the headquarters for the B.C. Marijuana Party. There’s no hiding what they’re doing there. The smell of marijuana hits you even before you walk in the door. Once inside, there’s every kind of bong, pipe and bubbler you could imagine for sale beside a vast display of pro-marijuana literature and racks and racks of hemp clothing. This is a full-on commercial operation and there’s nothing else to call it.

Emery’s in-your-face strategy has worked, at least in Canada. The Vancouver Police, tired of the optics showing burly police officers dragging doe-eyed neo-hippy chicks into paddy wagons on the six o’clock news, have largely retreated, leaving Emery and the B.C. Marijuana Party alone.

That all changed when the DEA came calling. The Mounties arrested Emery at their American counterpart’s request, over what they allege was essentially a drug-smuggling business. His seeds, the DEA say, were turned into billions of dollars worth of weed in various basements and attics all over America. Suddenly a crime that Canadian authorities have given up trying to enforce, is worth a lengthy jail sentence to their U.S. counterparts.

Now he’s facing five long years, subject to all the horrors of the U.S. penal system. The Prince of Pot could now become the Bitch of Bud.

After interviewing scores of pro-marijuana activists, I’ve heard just about every argument there is for the drug’s legalization. But the one that has always stood out for me, is the discrimination by the government against the users of cannabis versus the active encouragement for the use of two other legal drugs, tobacco and alcohol, both with a track record of harm far exceeding marijuana.

Don’t give me tired moral arguments against pot’s use. More crime and depravity is committed by drunks than stoners. Ask a cop who they would rather deal with. If he or she is being honest, they’ll confirm they have far more problems from drunks than potheads.

And forget the health argument. Tobacco kills thousands each year in Canada and can be purchased at your corner store. The government sells alcohol at its own chain of stores and it’s a proven killer in more ways than one. I’m not saying pot isn’t harmful, but show me the health benefits of whisky and cigarettes?

If the government isn’t willing to legalize marijuana, then flip it around. Make alcohol and tobacco illegal and watch our jails fill up faster than pint glass under a tap. Of course, that ain’t gonna happen and it shouldn’t. If mankind has shown one consistency through the ages, it’s that people like to get off centre, whether through drinking the juice of a fermented grape or smoking the leaves of a random plant, consequences be damned.

History has also shown us that prohibition of anything creates a black market for its demand and opportunities for organized crime to make a fortune. It happened during Prohibition and it’s happening now, with cannabis and the rampant gang problem in B.C.

The Prince of Pot may be an extreme example of the thousands of Canadians who use marijuana. Most are responsible people from all walks of life, who just want to unwind after work, like others might drink a glass of wine.

Legalize it, tax it, and quit giving criminal records to the thousands of otherwise law-abiding folk who just want to get off centre in a slightly different way.



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