Street roots
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May 13, 2011
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PRINCESS, from page 1
U.S. would be able to take him away when he
never left Canada. And that’s what made it
such a big deal when it happened in 2005.
Canadians were offended — our sovereignty
had been breached.
So it’s clear the reason why Marc was
targeted — it s not because of the danger of
the seeds, (but because of his activism)*
S.C.: Where do you guys see the next step?
How will you approach your activism now?
J.E.: I think we need to continue stressing
the importance of our sovereignty as a
country. Marc and I have been heavily
involved in elections and in political
campaigns because, (Conservative Primp
Minister) Stephen Harper is really doing a lot
6f bad things to Canada, and that inipacts
everybody.
Marc and I, in our activism, help people
who are being hurt by the government, that’s
what our brand of activism is about. It’s to
protect people from the oppressive
government force that’s being used against
peaceful, non-violent people. And so that
extends'to a lot of other things. This
government is really adopting a lot of U.S.
policies, especially with a lot of Christian,
right-wing influences. So that’s reflected in a
lot of the policies that Harper has introduced.
I think when Marc was arrested that was
the first time it was really obvious that our
governments were working together in really
sinister ways to sell out a citizen. So Marc
and I have been really pushing for a change in
our government
and to get people
involved in more
In our activism, we help
than just
people who are being hurt by supporting him,
but to support our
the government, that's what
countryand our
onr brand of activism Is
democracy before
about. It's to protect people
from the oppressive
government force that's
being used against peaceful,
non-violent p e o p le .... This
government is adopting a lot
of U.S. policies, especially
w ith a lot of Christian, right-
wing influences. So that's
reflected in a lot of the
policies that H arper has
introduced.
. S.C.: Vancouver’s
4 /2 0 (marijuana)
rally last month was
the biggest it’s ever
been. A n d yet
marijuana laws
were never
mentioned in the
federal election.
J.E.: I think
that’s because
Harper is s o ,
steadfast against it.
He doesn’t ever ,
get face-to-face
with someone who doesn’t agree with
everything he thinks, so he’s never going to
get-asked the marijuana question-it’s just a
dead issue in the water to him.
When you go and ask the other leaders,
they’re hesitant to say they want to make it'
legal because they know that will turn off a lot
of people. What surprises me is that the
other leaders often seem to be trying to get
the Harper supporters instead of trying to
appeal to the people who do want it legal.
The majority of Canadians want it legal, but
no leader is willing to say it because they feel
Harper would use it against them.
So we’re trying to educate (marijuana
supporters) and remind them all that every
single one of them is a target of Harper. They
and everybody else is at risk under this
government so they’ve got to give a damn.
This government is introducing laws to put
(users and growers) in prison. That’s scary.
We need to get our movement more focused
on preserving ourselves and our safety
instead of celebrating because it’s not time to
celebrate yet Things have gone backwards
since Marc was extradited.
J.E.: I kind of forgive the political parties
for trying to dance around legalization and so
for me I’d rather see the lesser evil in power
rather than the more evil evil.
I know with Harper there’s not a chance
that we’ll have any progress at all, not a
chance.' With the Liberals you know they
S.C.: What changes has the Harper
government made to m arijuana laws? |
J.E.: Harper changed the definition of a
serious drug offense to include any marijuana
offenses. So that means trafficking a joint
That means possessing personal weed. They
changed it from being over three kilograms to
include all of i t When they define something
as a serious offense it gives police the ability
to wire tap without needing the approval they
normally have to go through. They are
allowed to refuse you bail and they are
allowed to seize your property.
What that means is that right now it’s
possible that the police could go to every
house of someone that’s growing pot and
charge themunder a serious offense, which is
usually reserved for organized crime — these
are people who just have a couple of plants in
their closet. So that’s a lot of resources and
money badly being misused and it’s based on
the U.S.-style.- Harper also introduced
mandatory minimums and that means that
judges, even if they get a medical marijuana
grower in front of them, have to sentence
them to ascertain ariiount of time. There are a
lot of other laws that are being introduced
that are targeted toward cannabis users.
Harper declared a culture war on marijuana
use-one that he wants to get rid of i t That’s
his plan — he’s dead set against the marijuana
culture.
P H O T O B Y SAQIE SEA.
S.C.: On the one hand the government is
creating more punitive laws, but on the other the
Ontario ¿Superior. Court recently ruled that
current m arijuana cultivation an d usage laws
are unconstitutional.
J.E.: That’s where the courts are on our
side. That’s one of the things we need to do
before Harper stacks all the Supreme Court7
with much harsher and more conservative _
judges* This judge in Ontario found that
Matthew Mernagh was being blocked by
doctors to get marijuana. The government
has to fix the program to make marijhana
widely available. That means doctors can’t say
no. That means naturopaths could do. it, or
that means compassion clubs could license. It
means more access.
The other option is that it will just be taken
out of the law and we won’t have any
regulations or laws whatsoever. That’s the
preferable option to many of us, we’d prefer
no laws Or regulations whatsoever, but if
medical marijuana users need access we’re
going to have to have some sort of system set
in place. Either way I think it’s a good result
The government did appeal it, however, and
they will fight tooth and nail to make sure
that they restrict medicinal marijuana access
as much as possible. But as long as judges |
keep finding that they’re hurting people who
don’t need to be hurt anymore, that’s a good
thing.
S.C.: You did n ’t run in this federal'election
fo r the Green Party fo r personal reasons and
instead threw your support behind sLiberalM P
U jjalD osanjh. While Dosanjh has helped fig h t
M arc’s extradition, the Liberal Party is against
decrim inalizing marijuana. How do you
c o ffe e bean
in t e r n a t io n a l
We tip our m ugs to Coffee Bean International fo r donating coffee to Street
Roots and keeping our vendors warm in the morning!
Thank you!
balance that contradiction?
could be persuaded with maybe arguments
about money or arguments about what middle
Jody w ith her
husband Marc
Canadians want. T he NDP is certainly far
Em ery. M arc was
moreopen and~accessibleinto doing what the
-people want. So even thoughT personally
consider myself a small “c” conservative
libertarian and I like Jack Layton and the
NDP the best, I certainly need the
Conservatives to have fewer seats than last
time around.
!S.C.: You've been involved in the movement
fo r quite some time with Marc. B u t now that
he’s behind bars, how do you feel about
becoming the face and voice o f cannabis
activism in Canada?
arrested in 2005 by
C anadian a
authorities oh
behalf o f the United
States fo r selling
cannibis seeds in
the United States.
Jody has picked up
the banner on
m arijuana rights
after M arc began
serving his five-year
sentence last year.
J.E.: Marc was really preparing me for this
all along* I ’ve taken a tot of lessons from him
but I’ve also learned a tot myself, especially
with him being gone. He spent a short term
in 2009 in Coquitlam. When he was gone I
had to run tiiis place by myself and it was
hard. I had to learn how to do that,, but I’ve
gotten much better at it
My whole life, even in elementary school
or high school, I’ve always been a „
spokesperson. It’s come pretty easily for me.
I don’t think too highly of myself, I’m always
honored and humbled when somebody wants
to talk to me. When somebody wants an
interview I’m always grateful for that
opportunity. I try to represent people well
and I’m told that I do, so I keep frying to do
whatever it is I’m doing right
For more inform ation about Jodie a n d M arc
Emery, visit FreeMarc.ca a n d
C annabisCulture.com .
U JKb
\c a fe x
J L r JCf JL
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