Friday, January 4, 2008
A matter of national sovereignty
Colby Cosh, columnist
The National Post
On Dec. 31, the National Post comment pages published an open letter by columnist Karen Selick that asked Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to intervene in the extradition process against "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 21. For years, Mr. Emery has been openly running a lucrative business in mail-order marijuana seeds, selling to customers in both Canada and the U.S. Though this is technically illegal in both countries, the Vancouver police and the federal authorities took an indulgent view for years; Mr. Emery even reported his income to Revenue Canada and paid taxes, listing his occupation explicitly as "marijuana seed vendor."
He was not arrested until July, 2005, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration filed federal charges against him in Washington State. Mr. Emery was nabbed by the RCMP in Nova Scotia, and the Vancouver bookstore out of which he had run his business for years was suddenly raided. Perhaps some modern-day Claude Rains in a VPD uniform stood nearby, declaring: "I am shocked -- shocked! -- to find that marijuana seeds are being sold here!"
Now Mr. Emery faces the possibility of lifelong imprisonment in a U.S. federal penitentiary without parole. Needless to say, it is a fate he has done much to tempt. He has been an overt opponent of the DEA and the U.S. government, and never concealed his seed sales to the United States or made any effort to avoid selling to American customers. Quite the contrary: As he told CBS's 60 Minutes last year, "The whole idea was that I would help facilitate the growth of so much marijuana that the DEA and all the agencies of the United States would never be able to destroy it at the rate I would help create it and that, ultimately, I, one man, would neutralize the work of the entire DEA with their multi-billion dollar budget."
He has taken his battle to the propaganda front too, making highly visible donations to anti-prohibition groups in the United States. It's no surprise to him that the Americans want to clap him in irons. What might have been a surprise was the election of a Conservative government in Canada, one which has made tougher laws against marijuana growers and users a cornerstore of its political agenda.
Still, that should not deter us from a fair assessment of his incredibly risky argument-by-botany. Many of those who consider Mr. Emery's plight get distracted by what sometimes seems like a desire for martyrdom on his part, or by the ethical and medical considerations surrounding the use of marijuana. The plain fact is that Canadian law never practically considered his seed business a major peril to public order or morals, or it would have done something about it. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of mail-order growers are continuing in the trade in B.C. even now. Marijuana is recognized as having medical benefits by our government, as it is in the law of nearly a dozen U.S. states. The U.S. is using the technical presence of an unenforced law on our books to carry its drug war onto our soil. If the Honourable Mr. Nicholson allows this to reach its logical conclusion, and Mr. Emery is sent south for notional crimes committed entirely on Canadian soil, it will constitute a blow to our national sovereignty.
After all, just imagine for a moment that the positions were reversed -- that by some historical quirk, it was the U.S. that had adopted liberal attitudes toward marijuana, while we were suppressing it here at home with paramilitary force and penalties normally reserved for killers and armed robbers. Does anybody think for a moment that a Canadian politician or prosecutor could blithely dash off a letter to Massachusetts or Texas and have U.S. law enforcement mobilized from coast to coast to deliver a peaceable, otherwise law-abiding American seed dealer into our hands?
The Americans wouldn't stand for it. They'd raise hell about foreigners telling them how to run their country. And they'd be right to do it. The principle of extradition between friendly neighbouring democracies is an important one, but where ideas of justice are expressed in such a different manner as they are on a point like this -- where the people of two countries so plainly disagree about what is right -- co-operation is tantamount to a surrender of values.
[email protected]
Contact: [email protected]
A matter of national sovereignty
Colby Cosh, columnist
The National Post
On Dec. 31, the National Post comment pages published an open letter by columnist Karen Selick that asked Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to intervene in the extradition process against "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 21. For years, Mr. Emery has been openly running a lucrative business in mail-order marijuana seeds, selling to customers in both Canada and the U.S. Though this is technically illegal in both countries, the Vancouver police and the federal authorities took an indulgent view for years; Mr. Emery even reported his income to Revenue Canada and paid taxes, listing his occupation explicitly as "marijuana seed vendor."
He was not arrested until July, 2005, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration filed federal charges against him in Washington State. Mr. Emery was nabbed by the RCMP in Nova Scotia, and the Vancouver bookstore out of which he had run his business for years was suddenly raided. Perhaps some modern-day Claude Rains in a VPD uniform stood nearby, declaring: "I am shocked -- shocked! -- to find that marijuana seeds are being sold here!"
Now Mr. Emery faces the possibility of lifelong imprisonment in a U.S. federal penitentiary without parole. Needless to say, it is a fate he has done much to tempt. He has been an overt opponent of the DEA and the U.S. government, and never concealed his seed sales to the United States or made any effort to avoid selling to American customers. Quite the contrary: As he told CBS's 60 Minutes last year, "The whole idea was that I would help facilitate the growth of so much marijuana that the DEA and all the agencies of the United States would never be able to destroy it at the rate I would help create it and that, ultimately, I, one man, would neutralize the work of the entire DEA with their multi-billion dollar budget."
He has taken his battle to the propaganda front too, making highly visible donations to anti-prohibition groups in the United States. It's no surprise to him that the Americans want to clap him in irons. What might have been a surprise was the election of a Conservative government in Canada, one which has made tougher laws against marijuana growers and users a cornerstore of its political agenda.
Still, that should not deter us from a fair assessment of his incredibly risky argument-by-botany. Many of those who consider Mr. Emery's plight get distracted by what sometimes seems like a desire for martyrdom on his part, or by the ethical and medical considerations surrounding the use of marijuana. The plain fact is that Canadian law never practically considered his seed business a major peril to public order or morals, or it would have done something about it. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of mail-order growers are continuing in the trade in B.C. even now. Marijuana is recognized as having medical benefits by our government, as it is in the law of nearly a dozen U.S. states. The U.S. is using the technical presence of an unenforced law on our books to carry its drug war onto our soil. If the Honourable Mr. Nicholson allows this to reach its logical conclusion, and Mr. Emery is sent south for notional crimes committed entirely on Canadian soil, it will constitute a blow to our national sovereignty.
After all, just imagine for a moment that the positions were reversed -- that by some historical quirk, it was the U.S. that had adopted liberal attitudes toward marijuana, while we were suppressing it here at home with paramilitary force and penalties normally reserved for killers and armed robbers. Does anybody think for a moment that a Canadian politician or prosecutor could blithely dash off a letter to Massachusetts or Texas and have U.S. law enforcement mobilized from coast to coast to deliver a peaceable, otherwise law-abiding American seed dealer into our hands?
The Americans wouldn't stand for it. They'd raise hell about foreigners telling them how to run their country. And they'd be right to do it. The principle of extradition between friendly neighbouring democracies is an important one, but where ideas of justice are expressed in such a different manner as they are on a point like this -- where the people of two countries so plainly disagree about what is right -- co-operation is tantamount to a surrender of values.
[email protected]
Contact: [email protected]
