Invasion Of The Buzz-Killers

Is the Prince of Pot a Criminal? Does he deserve a 10-year sentence, five years without parole? For selling marijuana seeds on the Internet?

The answer, in case you tuned in late, is YES, at least according to the US government.

In chasing down Marc Emery and putting him in jail, Washington has created a maryjane martyr that could end up being a big-time bummer that will keep even the most oblivious senator awake at night. That's because there are elements this case that makes it more than a simple matter of taking a drug dealer off the streets. We're creating a legend here, folks.

The first little wrinkle is that Marc Emery's street corner is in Anytown, USA -- on the Internet. He doesn't actually stand on the street corner and sell dime bags. His bricks and mortars, papers and bongs location is here in Vancouver, where he has sold marijuana seeds for years without being stopped by any Canadian authority.

A lot of Canadians think that by seeking Emery's extradition, the US government is violating Canadian sovereignty. It's one thing to violate Iraq's sovereignty, but when you violate the sovereignty of your closest friend in the world, that's just rude, man.

Of course, if the Prince of Pot were the Prince of Kiddie Porn, the US government could drive over the border at Blaine, Washington and come to Vancouver in a fleet of Hummers and haul his sorry a** away and no one would care. But this is the love grass man. In fact, it's only seeds. You have to be a skilled horticulturalist to turn them into actual restricted substances.

Marc's friends and relations (who include the staff at Orato.com) are not happy. He's set to do more time than most armed robbers and rapists, while the worst thing he ever did was take a joke too far, an offense we've all committed at one time or another. I mean, there for but the grace of God....

Is Washington going after Marc Emery because he taunted the generals in the war on drugs? (Check out The Prince of Pot Prepares for Battle here on Orato.com for the whole sorry story). If so, it's difficult to believe the Drug Enforcement Administration could be so wrong-headed. The guy is a walking, talking cause. It wouldn't take much to turn it into an international incident, because most Canadians simply don't believe Marc Emery deserves to go to jail. Period.

Here in Vancouver, the authorities are trying to take an enlightened view of drug use and abuse. A "safe injection site" has been set up for heroin addicts and the Vancouver Island health authority is talking about supplying free pipes to crack heads. There's a common view that addiction is a medical problem, and it is pointless to turn it into a criminal matter. So no one has bothered to prosecute the Prince of Pot. We have real problems and we're trying to deal with them.

You could argue that this self-styled Prince of Pot, is another story altogether. A local columnist calls him "smart-a** egomaniac addicted as much to the fame and attention his marijuana crusade has brought him as he is to the BC Bud he likes to smoke so much." Once again, is being a smart-a** egomaniac a crime? Clear the streets!

Emery himself says the US government believes he's the largest producer of pot in the world. He's more of a symbol than a real threat to the well-being of Deadheads and assorted other rainbow warriors. Do you really believe that anyone has ever been brought to ruin after buying a package of Marc Emery's seeds?

And that's my point. He's a symbol all right. Like Timothy Leary a generation ago, he's a symbol for everyone who stands (when they can) for the right to explore altered states and feel good doing it.

He's a symbol for hedonists in a world that's more addicted to Crackberry than crack.

He's a symbol of freedom; of the libertarian principle of engaging in relatively harmless behavior without harassment or taxation.

And he's a symbol of Canadian hypocrisy, never mind Canadian sovereignty. If the Canadian government wanted to shut him down, why didn't it go ahead and do it years ago? Were we waiting for Uncle Sam to come in and do our dirty work because we're Canadians? We're nice guys - we don't do dirty work? We don't deserve to be a sovereign nation! Call in the Marines!

I would like to believe that both governments will grow up and get real. Emery had to engineer this plea bargain on his own - he was worried about being prosecuted to the full extent of the law and spending the rest of his life in the slammer. At least now he can look forward to getting sprung while he's still young enough to roll a spliff without assistance. But there is still a formal extradition hearing on Jan. 21, and who knows, maybe the Canadian government will block his extradition even though he's agreed to cop a plea? I suppose there's hope, however faint.

But if you're currently enjoying a fat one and are beginning to feel a little paranoid, that could be a good thing for your health. It might interest you to know that even here in liberal Canada, the number of busts for simple possession is on the rise - between 20 and 50 per cent last year in four of Canada's top pot-smoking cities. This new Conservative government is serious about killing the buzz and if you're smart, you'll switch mood-altering substances.

Take up wine, why doncha? Wine sales have increased to $500 million from $199 million in 1995, and it's all totally legal, dude. Of course, the cost of alcohol addiction is kinda high - $14.6 billion according to the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, almost twice as much as all other drugs combined, not including tobacco.

Now THAT's another story.