Michelle K Rainey
Active Member
Karen Selick: Don't extradict Marc Emery to the U.S.
Posted: December 31, 2007, 3:23 PM
Karen Selick
An open letter to Rob Nicholson, Canada's Minister of Justice
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/12/31/kare
n-selick-an-open-letter-to-rob-nicholson-canada-s-minister-of-justice.aspx
Dear Mr. Nicholson,
On January 21, 2008, an extradition hearing will begin in Vancouver for Marc
Emery, Canada¹s pre-eminent activist for the legalization of marijuana. Marc
has been charged in the U.S. with conspiring to manufacture and distribute
marijuana, and conspiring to launder money. If convicted under U.S. law, he
faces possible life imprisonment without parole.
Should Marc be extradited to the U.S.? The Canadian court will almost
certainly say yes. It has little choice under the Extradition Act. Marc
openly admits selling marijuana seeds over the Internet to customers around
the world, including the United States, for years. His conduct would have
been grounds for criminal charges here, although Canadian authorities never
chose to charge him. But that¹s enough under the Act to make it mandatory
for the judge to commit him for surrender to U.S. authorities.
That¹s where you come in, Mr. Justice Minister. Once the court has ruled,
the Extradition Act gives you discretion to refuse to surrender Marc if it
³would be unjust or oppressive having regard to all the relevant
circumstances.²
Here are some of the circumstances you might consider relevant.
From 1999 until he was arrested in 2005, Marc declared on his income tax
return that his occupation was ³marijuana seed vendor.² He paid $578,000 in
income taxes into federal and B.C. government coffers. He gave Canada
Revenue Agency access to his bank statements and explained all his cash
flows to them. The CRA graciously accepted his money without ever taking any
action to put a stop to all this criminal activity.
If you believe that all Canadians benefit from taxes being collected and
governments spending that tax money (I don¹t, but most Canadians do), then
logically you will have to concede that Marc has been a huge benefactor to
the Canadian people.
As for the money laundering charge, maybe all Canadians should face U.S.
indictments for having conspired with Marc to transform Americans¹ outlays
on recreational drugs into Canadian outlays on health care, roads, schools,
etc.
Marc has helped Canadians in other ways, too. When Canada was compelled in
2000 to legalize medical marijuana by the R. v. Parker decision of the
Ontario Court of Appeal, confusion reigned. Although the court had said that
individuals suffering the daily pain of illnesses such as epilepsy,
glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS could use marijuana with their
doctors¹ approval, there was nowhere they could legally acquire it.
Authorized users who asked Health Canada how to get their marijuana were
given the suggestion that they purchase it online from Marc Emery.
For eight years, Marc sent every federal Member of Parliament a free
subscription to his magazine Cannabis Culture. Every issue included a copy
of his seed catalogue. Every single MP and all of their office staff turned
a blind eye to his activities, just as Canada Revenue Agency and Health
Canada had done.
The prohibition against selling marijuana seeds in Canada went unenforced
for years, but the benefits of those seed sales were accepted unhesitatingly
by Canadian authorities. It would be the height of hypocrisy and injustice
for this country to now hand over its benefactor to a foreign government for
a prosecution it declined to pursue itself.
But there¹s more. Go to any internet search engine and enter ³marijuana
seeds.² You¹ll find many seed vendors still operating without prosecution in
British Columbia and other Canadian provinces. Why is the U.S. government
not seeking the extradition of these vendors? Why just Marc and his two
employees Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams?
I think the answer is obvious. The so-called ³BC3² have taken a principled,
public stand against the U.S. government¹s war on drugs. Marc in particular
is a highly effective spokesman for his cause. He was never in this business
primarily for financial gain, and generally kept only enough of his
marijuana seed profits to live on. Instead, he has donated over $4-million
and countless hours to fund court challenges, establish compassion clubs for
medical marijuana users, pay medical bills for activists, sponsor
conferences and protests, fund ballot initiatives, fund political campaigns
and so on. For over a decade, he has been a huge thorn in the side of
politicians and bureaucrats who disagree with him on the political issue of
legalizing marijuana.
The Extradition Act requires you, Mr. Justice Minister, to refuse to
surrender a person if the request for extradition is ³made for the purpose
of prosecuting or punishing the person by reason of theirpolitical
opinion.² Please consider Marc¹s long history of idealistic activism and
tell the U.S. government that you won¹t let them haul this politically
motivated Canadian hero off to one of their jails.
Karen Selick is a lawyer in Belleville, Ontario. Karen Selick Home Page
Posted: December 31, 2007, 3:23 PM
Karen Selick
An open letter to Rob Nicholson, Canada's Minister of Justice
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/12/31/kare
n-selick-an-open-letter-to-rob-nicholson-canada-s-minister-of-justice.aspx
Dear Mr. Nicholson,
On January 21, 2008, an extradition hearing will begin in Vancouver for Marc
Emery, Canada¹s pre-eminent activist for the legalization of marijuana. Marc
has been charged in the U.S. with conspiring to manufacture and distribute
marijuana, and conspiring to launder money. If convicted under U.S. law, he
faces possible life imprisonment without parole.
Should Marc be extradited to the U.S.? The Canadian court will almost
certainly say yes. It has little choice under the Extradition Act. Marc
openly admits selling marijuana seeds over the Internet to customers around
the world, including the United States, for years. His conduct would have
been grounds for criminal charges here, although Canadian authorities never
chose to charge him. But that¹s enough under the Act to make it mandatory
for the judge to commit him for surrender to U.S. authorities.
That¹s where you come in, Mr. Justice Minister. Once the court has ruled,
the Extradition Act gives you discretion to refuse to surrender Marc if it
³would be unjust or oppressive having regard to all the relevant
circumstances.²
Here are some of the circumstances you might consider relevant.
From 1999 until he was arrested in 2005, Marc declared on his income tax
return that his occupation was ³marijuana seed vendor.² He paid $578,000 in
income taxes into federal and B.C. government coffers. He gave Canada
Revenue Agency access to his bank statements and explained all his cash
flows to them. The CRA graciously accepted his money without ever taking any
action to put a stop to all this criminal activity.
If you believe that all Canadians benefit from taxes being collected and
governments spending that tax money (I don¹t, but most Canadians do), then
logically you will have to concede that Marc has been a huge benefactor to
the Canadian people.
As for the money laundering charge, maybe all Canadians should face U.S.
indictments for having conspired with Marc to transform Americans¹ outlays
on recreational drugs into Canadian outlays on health care, roads, schools,
etc.
Marc has helped Canadians in other ways, too. When Canada was compelled in
2000 to legalize medical marijuana by the R. v. Parker decision of the
Ontario Court of Appeal, confusion reigned. Although the court had said that
individuals suffering the daily pain of illnesses such as epilepsy,
glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS could use marijuana with their
doctors¹ approval, there was nowhere they could legally acquire it.
Authorized users who asked Health Canada how to get their marijuana were
given the suggestion that they purchase it online from Marc Emery.
For eight years, Marc sent every federal Member of Parliament a free
subscription to his magazine Cannabis Culture. Every issue included a copy
of his seed catalogue. Every single MP and all of their office staff turned
a blind eye to his activities, just as Canada Revenue Agency and Health
Canada had done.
The prohibition against selling marijuana seeds in Canada went unenforced
for years, but the benefits of those seed sales were accepted unhesitatingly
by Canadian authorities. It would be the height of hypocrisy and injustice
for this country to now hand over its benefactor to a foreign government for
a prosecution it declined to pursue itself.
But there¹s more. Go to any internet search engine and enter ³marijuana
seeds.² You¹ll find many seed vendors still operating without prosecution in
British Columbia and other Canadian provinces. Why is the U.S. government
not seeking the extradition of these vendors? Why just Marc and his two
employees Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams?
I think the answer is obvious. The so-called ³BC3² have taken a principled,
public stand against the U.S. government¹s war on drugs. Marc in particular
is a highly effective spokesman for his cause. He was never in this business
primarily for financial gain, and generally kept only enough of his
marijuana seed profits to live on. Instead, he has donated over $4-million
and countless hours to fund court challenges, establish compassion clubs for
medical marijuana users, pay medical bills for activists, sponsor
conferences and protests, fund ballot initiatives, fund political campaigns
and so on. For over a decade, he has been a huge thorn in the side of
politicians and bureaucrats who disagree with him on the political issue of
legalizing marijuana.
The Extradition Act requires you, Mr. Justice Minister, to refuse to
surrender a person if the request for extradition is ³made for the purpose
of prosecuting or punishing the person by reason of theirpolitical
opinion.² Please consider Marc¹s long history of idealistic activism and
tell the U.S. government that you won¹t let them haul this politically
motivated Canadian hero off to one of their jails.
Karen Selick is a lawyer in Belleville, Ontario. Karen Selick Home Page
. I wish there was something I could do to help.
. I am sickened by this arrest and can only hope that true justice will be served and the poor man will be left alone.As well as anyone who wants to put whatever the fuck they want into their "OWN BODY"! One day I hope all Jews Arabs Christians and whoever else wants can just all sit down together in peace and just get high. To realize we are just animals like any other. We are just killing ourselves and hurting the future of this world by pushing on with this failed drug war.