DEA Chief Admits Emery Arrest Was Political

No surprise, but if this can be confirmed it takes on the other aspect of this issue; using a foreign power to take out a political adversary, a threat to freedom of speech and a number of other issues.

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If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?

"P-I columnist Joel Connelly can be reached at 206-448-8160 or
joelconnelly@seattlepi.com"

Maybe the DEA called up and said "oopsie, can we have our press release back?"

Loretta asks that I post this here:<br />
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U.S. Marijuana Party Calls for the Resignation of D.E.A. Administrator Karen Tandy<br />
<br />
Today August 5, 2005 the Seattle Post Intelligencer quoted D.E.A. administrator Karen Tandy on the arrest of Canadian marijuana activist Marc Emery.<br />
<br />
According to the Post Intelligencer Ms. Tandy had this to say;<br />
<br />
"Today's arrest of Mark (sic) Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and the founder of a marijuana legalization group, is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement."<br />
<br />
Why? Tandy gives us a handy dose of innuendo.<br />
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"Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."<br />
<br />
Is the DEA hiding behind the pot seed laws to target its political foes?<br />
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The Constitution allows the executive branch to enforce the drug laws. It does not allow the government to target political speech (which, as conservatives in the US are fond of pointing out, includes money for political campaigns).<br />
<br />
With her remarks, Karen Tandy appears either to have crossed that line or to be teetering on its edge. Tandy needs to clarify her remarks and state publicly that the DEA is not targeting protected political activity. If she cannot or will not do that, she should resign. Targeting political opponents is not Tandy's job.<br />
<br />
<br />
Loretta Nall<br />
President, U.S. Marijuana Party<br />
<a href="http://usmjparty.blogspot.com">http://usmjparty.blogspot.com</a><br />
404-806-5303<br />
cnall1@charter.net

Ms. Tandy's quote is being spread around the Internet, slowly but surely. The US media has pretty much ignored this story, but if enough people keep talking about it and copying and pasting it (along with the link) into blogposts, comments and other forums, word will eventually get around. <a href="http://www.landofthefreehomeofthebrave.org/wp/index.php/2005/08/05/us-marijuana-party-calls-for-the-resignation-of-dea-administrator-karen-tandy/">Margaret Romao Toigo</a>

I love that quote. I am going to copy that one down!

Why doesn`t america just fuck off?

In my research for a number of letters to the editor I came across the following item in the Monterey Herald that is pertinent to the discussion. In the July 6, 2005 article titled "Web sites selling marijuana and paraphernalia proliferate" the easy access to the Internet is linked to easy access to illicit drugs. Drug users "can obtain whatever they want (online) with more ease than in the conventional illicit street market" the International Narcotics Control Board stated in a press release in April.<br />
<br />
Fred Mallach<br />
Victoria, BC<br />
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The DEA's hotline, 1-877-RxAbuse (part of the government's efforts to shut down illegal online pharmacies selling prescription drugs) can also be used to report marijuana Web sites, DEA spokesman Rusty Paynes said.<br />
<br />
"Because of the magnitude and growth of the Internet, this is something that's difficult for the DEA to enforce," he said. Online drug vendors can easily hide their identities and locations, and marijuana Web sites often are registered to people in countries such as Canada or the Netherlands, where drug laws are more liberal and less stringently enforced. Payne said that though the DEA worked closely with law enforcement agencies in other countries, it didn't have jurisdiction over foreign Web site operators.<br />
<br />
Robert DeMuro, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Investigations Service thinks online pot is anything but safe for Web site operators. "People who sell drugs are obviously violating the law and obviously engage in this activity because they thing they can get away with it," he siad. "Can they for a while? Yes. Can they forever? No."<br />
<br />
The full article can be accessed at: <a href="http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/12068268.htm">www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/12068268.htm</a><br />
<br />
Marc Emery was a marked man. The sting was set up and executed during the slow, lazy, hazy days of summer when the DEA thought they could get the most publicity for their efforts (politicians are on their summer break in both Canada and the United States) with the least amount of flak. What it has done instead is it has galvanized our nation around the bigger issue of sovereignty and freedom of speech. The DEA's plan to break up Marc Emery's internet based marijuana seed site, the BC Marijuana Party and the other activities that the site supported has backfired.

In my research for a number of letters to the editor I came across the following item in the Monterey Herald that is pertinent to the discussion. In the July 6, 2005 article titled "Web sites selling marijuana and paraphernalia proliferate" the easy access to the Internet is linked to easy access to illicit drugs. Drug users "can obtain whatever they want (online) with more ease than in the conventional illicit street market" the International Narcotics Control Board stated in a press release in April.<br />
<br />
The DEA's hotline, 1-877-RxAbuse (part of the government's efforts to shut down illegal online pharmacies selling prescription drugs) can also be used to report marijuana Web sites, DEA spokesman Rusty Paynes said.<br />
<br />
"Because of the magnitude and growth of the Internet, this is something that's difficult for the DEA to enforce," he said. Online drug vendors can easily hide their identities and locations, and marijuana Web sites often are registered to people in countries such as Canada or the Netherlands, where drug laws are more liberal and less stringently enforced. Payne said that though the DEA worked closely with law enforcement agencies in other countries, it didn't have jurisdiction over foreign Web site operators.<br />
<br />
Robert DeMuro, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Investigations Service thinks online pot is anything but safe for Web site operators. "People who sell drugs are obviously violating the law and obviously engage in this activity because they thing they can get away with it," he siad. "Can they for a while? Yes. Can they forever? No."<br />
<br />
The full article can be accessed at: <a href="http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/12068268.htm">www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/12068268.htm</a><br />
<br />
Marc Emery was a marked man. The sting was set up and executed during the slow, lazy, hazy days of summer when the DEA thought they could get the most publicity for their efforts (politicians are on their summer break in both Canada and the United States) with the least amount of flak. What it has done instead is it has galvanized our nation around the bigger issue of sovereignty and freedom of speech. The DEA's plan to break up Marc Emery's internet based marijuana seed site, the BC Marijuana Party and the other activities that the site supported has backfired.<br />
<br />
Fred Mallach<br />
Victoria, BC

Dumb Evil America.

Another newspaper <a href="http://www.dailybreeze.com/opinion/articles/1654786.html">has picked up the Connelley story.</a> BTW, I have the original Seattle PI story mirrored <a href="http://host93.ipowerweb.com/~salvagin/ncf/235421_joel05.html">here</a>, just in case it disappears. (You never know...)

Maybe the DEA should wonder why their is such a high demand for this product in America.

America will never win the drug war as people will always use drugs and will find a new supply if they really want the product bad enough.

If America (and Canada) were to outright legalize it, it would be in my opinion easier to regulate and control, instead of wasting billions a year on an un winnable "war on drugs".

I agree but with the caveat that there have to be extremely tough regulations of how much you can grow for your own personal use (no selling to anyone except for seeds and paraphernalia to grow it and only after obtaining a license to do so) and where one can smoke it (I don't want to have to walk down the street and smell the stench of it like I do with cigarettes now).

The bushes started investing in private prisons around the time they ramped up the war on drugs. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tarpley.net/bushb.htm#4%20">http://www.tarpley.net/bushb.htm#4%20</a>--<br />
<br />
More kids go to jail and the bushes pocket the profits, paid for with tax dollars.

Although I support the complete legalization of marijuana, I have always found Marc Emery a bit of a farce and a media-hungry big-mouth. I beleive he is getting what he deserves in this case.

A man who earned millions, yet describes himself as "ghandi-like" does not hold water. Publicly, he carries himself as a pauper - yet in fact he manages to live in a 3000 / month high-end condo ( which I imagine is furnished in an appropriate style ). Nobody beleieves that Emery did not have a lifestyle that corresponded to his income.

This man did what he did in Canada and was tolerated. However, by "pushing the envelope" to include large-scale seed sales to the US, Emery simply cannot hide behind Canadian sovereignty. At this point his plight is simply not political.

Send him to the states to answer to the proper authorities. Quite simply "if you can't do the time - don't do the crime".