But On July 29, while in an eatery in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, Emery was arrested by the RCMP-the culmination of a joint investigation by the Halifax regional police, the RCMP and their integrated drug unit.

The request for Emery's arrest came from the Vancouver police department, who on July 22 also raided Toker's Bowl, Emery's store, which sells books, smoking paraphernalia and seeds, and also serves as the headquarters of the B.C. Marijuana Party. Vancouver police arrested Gregory Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek during the raid. Authorization for the raid came from associate chief justice of the B.C. supreme court, Patrick Dohm, under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act. The search warrant said Emery, Williams and Rainey-Fenkarek are wanted in the U.S. on charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

The U.S. is seeking the extradition of all three on conspiracy charges after they were indicted by an American federal grand jury in May. The indictment followed an 18-month investigation by American police into the sale of marijuana seeds on the Internet and by mail. If convicted, each could spend over a decade in prison in the United States of America-for selling seeds. This is ridiculous.

The American "War on Drugs" and "War on Terror" have become a war on freedom, and a war on Canadian sovereignty. If the Canadian government capitulates, America will have succeeded in becoming absolutely tyrannical. Who is next? Muslims? Minorities? Same-sex couples? Brew your own beer depots? Watch out.

Cannabis seeds and oil pressed from the seeds could be a valuable food source for humans. Cannabis seeds contain all eight amino acids that humans require for life functions, as well as the omega oils: omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9. Cannabis seeds also contain the fatty gamma-linolenic acid (contained in Omega 6), a building block not easily found in nature. Cannabis seeds and oil pressings contain no THC, nor any of the cannabinoid groups that make you high. Yankee go home. Free Emery, Williams and Rainey-Fenkarek.

HOT@ottawaxpress.ca

 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

This is disgusting     If Mark Emery, or any other Canadian for that matter, is dumb enough to be caught red-handed selling pot or another controlled substance while in the US, then they should have to face the music. However, this should not give ANY country the right to use another country's resources and law enforcement agencies to track down a "fugitive" of such a minor nature once they have returned to their own country. If Emery was a serial killer, child molester, rapist etc., then I would support the Canadian government enabling extradition. But we are talking about selling SEEDS, and a decade of prison. 10 years in jail is not going to do anything to make Emery a better person or reform him of his radical views on marijuana use. If anything it will make him more determined, once released, to further his cause. The truly scary part about this is the implications for the future... it is apparent that the US government thinks nothing of going into poorer nations and doing whatever they want... Do we as Canadians want to show that we will give in? As Akpata points out, Canadians are generally more tolerant of many different people than the US... What happens if the US decides to make all Muslims carry identity cards a la Star of David in Nazi Germany? It's not so far-fetched.
R M	{26 votes}	August 5th, 2005
~House of Trouble~     The U.S. is seeking the extradition based on 'the evils of marijuana' but just imagine if they'd actually approached all of their problems with such followthrough? Of course, that would be giving them too much credit, the truth is that the U.S. only uses proper chanels to get their way when it occurs to them. The rest of the time? Brute force and willful obliviousness to their own raging hypocracy. Marijuana is such a huge concern? Really? How about the failed economy, the deficit, the 'War on Terror', the loss of basic human rights, the destruction of the environment, etc...but nah, let's get our groove on this outdated issue. Makes perfect sense...in Bizarro world.
Pedro Eggers		October 1st, 2005
Proof     This should be enough proof that for anyone who is just 'considering' decriminalization, that it's time to take a more proactive stance. If the law was in place and small quantities and seeds were not considered jail-term punishable this case would be a lot more clearly delineated. As it is, with the kind of vague law that isn't yet a law the U.S. feels it must be preemptive and set some kind of precedent. We need our laws to be established and well-defined.
Skeleton James	{4 votes}	August 8th, 2005
I never realized that cannabis seeds were so nutritious     If the seeds and their oil can yield products that are cheaper than what is on our shelf, then we Canadians have a duty to produce them, and then export to friendly nations.
Karen Mohindra	{6 votes}	August 4th, 2005
Maybe your missing something here...     Assault weapons are illegal in this country and so is the ammunition. Imagine if Canada requested that the owner and execs at Federal munitions U.S.A. be extradited to Canada on charges that the ammunition sold by them in Canada was used in shootings and murders. U.S authorities are trying to do the exact same thing. This is not about Cannabis seed sales,this is about politics pure and simple. If the Liberal Government wants their win in the next election,they better listen to Canadians and stand up for the Cannabis Culture, and at three million users in Canada alone,they most certainly are a Culture. Its time you stood up Mr. Martin,after all you were once a Cannabis user yourself. To treat anyone who smokes,vaporises, or eats Cannabis,any differently than they treat the Prime Minister or any number of Politicians and Media who use Cannabis, is somewhat hippocritical and a little nauseating.
Ed Jolin	{9 votes}	August 4th, 2005
Marijuana seeds are not illegal, dag nabit!     I live in Quebec. I don't know how things work in Ontario, but over here selling seeds is not illegal. You can buy them at any "High Times" location. And they do not cost 500$ for 10 seeds, it's more like around 100$. And frankly, if you want to grow it for your own personal consumption, i do not see anything wrong with that. It's like making your own wine, as long as you don't sell it, all the power to you. If you think about it, it's actually a healthier option to grow one or two plants yourself, for your own consumption, rather than go out into the street and buy it from a dealer. Why am i encoraging potheads to grow their own buds? Well at least you know that it's not sprayed with pesticides, fertilizers or worse yet windex, which are both extermely harmfull to the environment (for outdoor crops) and not to mention your health...not that smoking in general is good for you to begin with, but if you are going to do it, you might as well do it right. Also if you grow your own, you don't suport dangerous street and biker gangs like the Hell's Angels or the RockMachine to name a few. The American "War on Drugs", just like their "War on terrorism" is a farce. It's just a ploy by the elite to whip up a frenzy in the public and direct all the rage and contempt away from them and point it towards the most mild-mannered of all drug users. Who ever heard of a pot head riot? or pot-related prostitution.. try attacking crack-cocaine, heroine, LSD, meth, or the pharma-industry if you really want to get to the root of society's true drug problem. Marijuana is like alcohol, it's bad, and can destroy lives, but you can't stop people from using it. It has a history older than our country and has origins in all parts of the traditional world. Prohibition failed, and guess what, the war on pot shares the same fate.
Shant Noubarian	{1 vote}	August 4th, 2005
Maybe I'm missing something here...     ...but isn't the sell of cannabis seeds on either side of the border illegal? Just because we turn a blind eye to this offense, that doesn't mean the anti-pot United States has to as well. As much as people want to scream about our rights and privileges being trampled on, Canadian authorities are legally obliged to co-operate with the Americans in apprehending Emery under a mutual-assistance treaty. We all know that this latest arrest in the War on Drugs will do as much to stop marijuana use as Tommy Chong's did. And if making the Prince of Pot a martyr helps the decriminalization/legalization cause, that's great. But let's not act all surprised and indignant when someone flaunting the law gets caught breaking it. If you can't do the time, you shouldn't do the crime.
Andrew Franklin	{3 votes}	August 4th, 2005
Oh gee     Like the guy is that deadly he could extract $500 from someone for mary jane seeds like it was addictive like cocaine. Hmm, what's next to get busted for like that...pirated CD's/DVD's (burns). I think they RCMP would better off looking into al qeuida or the idiot speeders on the 417!
Ger Madden	{1 vote}	August 9th, 2005

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