Snag in deal by U.S and Canada's "Prince of Pot"
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A deal to resolve the extradition fight between Canada's "Prince of Pot" and U.S. drug authorities has hit a snag, the marijuana activist said on Wednesday.
The United States wants to extradite Marc Emery -- who founded a political party and campaigned across Canada to legalize pot -- on charges he illegally sold marijuana seeds from his Vancouver store to American buyers.
Emery tentatively agreed with U.S. prosecutors in January to plead guilty in return for the charges being dropped against two other defendants and he being allowed to spend the bulk of a 10-year sentence in Canada.
Canada must also approve the deal, but its prosecutors say a Canadian judge cannot be ordered to impose a U.S. prison sentence of no release for at least five years that is stricter than Canadian law requires.
"The Canadian government says that's not legal in Canada ... and so Justice Department in the United States says the deal is not possible because the Canadians are not playing ball so to speak," Emery told reporters.
Emery was in court in Vancouver on Wednesday to set a date for his extradition trial, but a judge agreed to postpone the hearing until April 19 to allow his lawyers, U.S. and Canadian prosecutors to continue negotiating.
Emery said he will fight extradition if a deal is not reached.
Emery has accused Canadian police of bowing to U.S. political demands by arresting him in 2005, since his activities were well-known and tolerated in Canada -- where he even paid taxes on his seed sales.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0565265520080306
Stumble It!
Canada should tell the USA to fuck off and die in exactly those words.
The "War on (some) Drugs" is a scam, designed to create high drug prices across the board and insure there is a "problem" in need of government a funded solution which means a few filthy rich scum bags high up in the food chain are enjoying massive profits from the artificially created demand.
The other side of the scam, is making some drugs legal but only those that can be patented and protected by the same system of enforcement that also makes certain drugs that cannot be patented (and easily produced at home) are illegal. This creates artificially high prices for big pharma junk.
For a reasonable summary read:
2002 REPORT OF THE SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ILLEGAL DRUGS
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/comm ... mary-e.htm
*freedom not available in Canada.
is in Brith Columbia a multi Billion dollar
industry (I know people that know people)
Bumf from the book Bud Inc.
From the Publisher
According to Forbes magazine,* marijuana is “Canada’s most valuable agricultural product — bigger than wheat, cattle or timber.” Bud Inc. gives us an inside look at this thriving homegrown industry.Although the cultivation and selling of marijuana remains illegal in Canada, it is already big business, especially in British Columbia. Law enforcement officials estimate that the annual wholesale value of B.C. marijuana is now $6 billion, about 5% of the province’s total economy. If these stats are …+ read more
According to Forbes magazine,* marijuana is “Canada’s most valuable agricultural product — bigger than wheat, cattle or timber.” Bud Inc. gives us an inside look at this thriving homegrown industry.
Although the cultivation and selling of marijuana remains illegal in Canada, it is already big business, especially in British Columbia. Law enforcement officials estimate that the annual wholesale value of B.C. marijuana is now $6 billion, about 5% of the province’s total economy. If these stats are correct, it is B.C.’s largest export. Ontario and Quebec are not far behind.
Vancouver journalist Ian Mulgrew has been following the rise of this underground economy for some time, and knows all the key players, political and entrepreneurial. Comparisons to the rum-runners of the Prohibition era are not unfounded. These so-called “pot barons” are all savvy businessmen who have built their empires using tried and true business models.
Cash-strapped governments, pharmaceutical companies and other big businesses are well aware of the potential profits, and Canada has been at the forefront of the global movement to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize the recreational use of the drug. Estimates vary, but it’s thought that nearly a million people in Canada could benefit from medicinal marijuana, yet only about a thousand are currently legally authorized to use it. Many feel that marijuana should be grown, regulated and taxed like any other commodity.
Following the evolution of the marijuana trade from rich kids smuggling it in their luggage, to trans-oceanic operations involving tons of dope, to today’s thriving multi-billion-dollar domestic industry, Bud Inc. is a fascinating study of real-life supply-and-demand economics.
*November 2003
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About the Author
Award-winning journalist Ian Mulgrew has worked for newspapers and magazines, authored three books and co-authored another. He has also produced and hosted numerous broadcast programs. He is currently the legal affairs columnist for the Vancouver Sun."
It is a supply and demand situation and there many Mom and Pop oeration more or less forced in the trade due to sky rocketing housing price and general inflation One he tgo get their head around the facr that bad law created organised crime, as far as marijuana cultivation is concerned.
I have yet to see accurate police reports on the Pot game
they, the police, estimate tha "profit" on street value of joints
Every bussiness has gross and net
and I could write an accurater book about the way it really is
The DEA operate on foreign soil, in this case Canadian soil
What gets me is the hypocracy. The CIA: Cocaine Importing Agency introduced crack cocaine
into it's own country
more when I'm up to it