PHO TO BY BEN A N D L IA M PUDGE
The princess of pot
Canad a ’s Jodie Emery takes over her imprisoned husband's fig h t to legalize marijuana
Swn& twiunAsJhe
executive directorof
Megaphone Magazine,
Street Roots sister paper
in Vancouver, B.C.
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S E A N CONDON
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
or years Jodie Emery was a constant
at the side of her husband Marc
Emery, at Vancouver 'press
conferences and marijuana rallies as he
fought his extradition to the United States
for selling cannabis seeds across the
border. While Marc worked to inform
Canadians that their government had
arrested him in 2Q05 on behalf of the
United States Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) as part of its
controversial war on drugs, Jodie’s
presence seemed to remind people what
his loss of freedom would mean on a
personal level.
However, since Marc started serving his
five-year sentence in the U.S. last year,
Jodie has become the face and voice of the
marijuana legalization movement m §
Canada. While taking over the mantle from
Vancouver’s ‘Prince of Pot’ may have
seemed daunting, Jodie has quickly proven
to be a natural leader and has picked up
where her husband left off.
Along with being the editor of Cannabis
Culture magazine, Jodie ran for the BC
Green Party in the 2009 provincial election
and continues to fight for marijuana
legalization and to bring Marc back across
the border to serve out his sentence.
Just a few days before the federal
election, Megaphone sat down with Jodie
at the Cannabis Culture head office and
talked about Marc’s case, what a
Conservative majority will mean for
marijuana users and about how she feels
B
about becoming Canada7s ‘Princess of Pot’.
Megaphone: Marc was recently denied
transfer to Canada and was moved from a
minimum to medium security prison. How
do you feel he’s being treated by the US.
justice system?
Jodie Emery: It’s really unfortunate
that they refused his transfer application
because he did qualify under all the .
criteria for transfer, and we had the
support of 23 previously and currently
elected representatives from all levels of
government in Canada. We also had
support from U.S. politicians and
thousands of letters from supporters
across North America. The sentencing
judge also recommended that he be
transferred, so the only objection would be
from the DEA, who considered Marc a
major threat for his political activism.
I think the DEA wants Marc to serve
the five-year sentence because he was
facing 30-years-to-life and his plea deal was
for five years. We had hoped that most of it
would be served in Canada, but it will be
served in the U.S. He’ll apply for transfer
again in two years but it takes about a year
.for that to be processed and I’m not sure if
they would approve ito r not then. Butin
three years he’ll be able to get out on early
release if he’s had good behavior the whole
time. But if not, he’ll be out after the five-
year sentence in early 2015.
S . C Do you think he was denied
transfer because he has been so outspoken
« M
on his blog about the conduions^inside U.S,
prisons?
J.E.: I think that did have something to
do with it because the rejection letter said
he was refused (transfer) for serious law
enforcement concerns. But, of course, he’s
not a threat to anybody and he’s not likely
to reoffend; but they just want him to be
sent away. They do see him as a (political)
symbol. The other part in the rejection
letter said Marc could reapply in two years
when he’s had time to consider changing
his behaviour that led to the rejection, so,
that’s kind of saying, ‘be quiet, stop
complaining’.
S.C.: Marc had been so defiant about his
actions, but when he was sentenced he
expressed regret for selling seeds and that the
methods were “ill conceived and ultimately
destructive”. What exactly did he mean by
that?
J.E.: Well, he has to express remorse,
for his activities, that’s required when you
agree to plead guilty; you have to admit
that you’re doing wrong. He knew that he
was breaking the law, so that’s accurate.
He’s defied a lot of laws that are unjust
and that punish nonviolent people his
entire life. So when he sold seeds, he
always thought he could face punishment..
But if he was going to b e charged, it would
have been in Canada. Nobody expected the
See PRINCESS, page 5
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