Marc Emery on 60 Minutes

Jacob Sullum | March 3, 2006

On Sunday 60 Minutes is expected to run its story about Marc Emery, the Canadian cannabis seed dealer and political activist who was arrested last summer in Halifax at the behest of the U.S. government, which wants to extradite him so he can be tried for selling seeds to Americans. The arrest prompted complaints that the U.S. is trying to impose its harsher drug laws on Canada, where marijuana seed (and paraphernalia) dealers operate openly. Emery himself had been in business for a decade. As for why U.S. drug warriors singled him out, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy's statement after his arrest was revealing:

Today's arrest of Mark [sic] Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and the founder of a marijuana legalization group, is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.

Comments

|3.3.06 @ 10:15AM|#

Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.

Pot of money! Get it? Get it?

Timothy|3.3.06 @ 10:21AM|#

Somebody get the lady a dimebag, she could probably use it.

|3.3.06 @ 10:23AM|#

This man is a hero, as we have hero's like this great man, also in the UK, and world wide.

We know the truth is coming out.

Cannabis is the least harmful, of the recreational drugs, (If harmful at all)..as this is just a stupid drug war, wasting revenue rather that use it for our infrastructure.

Time to admit wisdom weed is the best choice...

Time to normalise marijuana.

Winston Matthews Legalise Cannabis Alliance UK...

|3.3.06 @ 10:32AM|#

Pot of money! Get it? Get it?

"Significant blow."

Karen Tandy and her ilk can make big deals out of persecuting some harmless guy, but they can't change the fact that there's significant blow and pots of money all over the place.

|3.3.06 @ 10:33AM|#

Did similar situations happen during prohibition? Were advocates for repealing the amendment were arrested for giving money to political groups working for repeal?

|3.3.06 @ 10:44AM|#

I know the law doesn't support me on this, but don't you think that this statement:

" Today's arrest of Mark [sic] Scott Emery...is a significant blow ... to the marijuana legalization movement"

should invalidate the prosecution entirely? If the intent of the prosecution is to silence a political advocacy group, doesn't that violate the heart of the 1st amendment? And therefore, regardless of whether there is a legitimate basis for a prosecution under the law, the mere presence of such an intent should stop any prosecution. In fact, that prosecutor, and her staff, should be banned from any future prosecutions where that intent could be at play.

|3.3.06 @ 10:52AM|#

Yeah, the law probably doesn't support you on this, but it should.

But then the guy who said "the law is an ass" was very wise in his own way.

Thomas Paine's Goiter|3.3.06 @ 10:53AM|#

So the Patriot Act is reupped with 10 nay votes and we're extending our ridiculous prohibition to other soverign nations.

If these things are the cold buckets of water on the heads of Americans that drive them to vote third party, WHAT THE HELL WILL DO IT?

|3.3.06 @ 10:54AM|#

It certainly shouldn't come as a surprise. If people like us have our way, everyone in the DEA will lose his or her job. The only shocking thing is that they feel so comfortable about admitting openly that they consider it part of their mission to interdict the democratic policy-making process. They have become more high-handed and arrogant than the Bourbons. They appear to be openly mocking us.

Thomas Paine's Goiter|3.3.06 @ 10:54AM|#

AREN'T the cold buckets of water...

|3.3.06 @ 11:03AM|#

...is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada...

If he is selling seeds, is that really part of "trafficking " ? I would think that trafficking would at least need to have actual drugs, not potential drugs.

But hey if people can consider an embryo a "baby", then I guess a seed that hasn't been planted could be a "drug" by that same rationale no?

Warren|3.3.06 @ 11:08AM|#

The Marc Emery story is epic. His early activism was as a Rand hero come to life. Since taking on marijuana, he has made tremendous progress. The man is 100% dedicated to his cause and very bright. He is an accomplished public speaker. He is also an egomaniac and lately has gotten cozy with some of the eco-pinko crowd. But those are mere nits when compared to what this man has been able to accomplish.

I encourage all Hit and Runners to spend a few hours (days) at his website Pot-TV.net. It is a fantastic video database. Not that it isn't full of videos of neo-hippies sitting around getting high and saying such poignantly cliched things as "I'm so wasted". But there is tons of more articulate and significant material. Scroll down the right side to find the WOD episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit, along with the John Stossel WOD special. My favorites are the one's that feature Marc himself. He is such a passionate and motivated spokesman, it's truly inspiring to here him talk.

As an activist, Marc really knows what he's doing. The seed business he's being extradited for was very successful. He was able to finance a host of legalization efforts with millions of dollars he made as a marijuana seed broker. How brilliant, not to mention libertarian, is that! The more you learn the details the more interesting it becomes. Like the hundreds of thousands of dollars Marc has paid in tax (fully declaring that his income came from the sale of marijuana seeds). Or a favorite episode of mine where Marc buys a table at a dinner where drug czar John Walters spoke and heckled him with crys of "Liar" and "Bullshit".

At any rate, please encourage everyone you know to watch 60 min on Sun.

|3.3.06 @ 11:10AM|#

"Significant blow."

An allusion, no doubt, to the Clinton administration.

|3.3.06 @ 11:21AM|#

Not just enforcing the LAW; enforcing the political status quo.

|3.3.06 @ 11:57AM|#

Yeah, the extent to which the DEA and its related agencies see their mission as not merely enforcing the law, but overtly perpetuating it by striking at political advocates of legalization, is truly amazing. Everyone knows that bureaucrats have a vested interest in making sure they keep their jobs, but I think this is the first time that a law enforcement agency has made that naked self-interest the focus of its enforcement efforts. It would be like the IRS going after advocates of a flat tax.

|3.3.06 @ 12:40PM|#

The "war" on drugs will never end because it would be too embarassing for 99.44% of our politicians to admit they were wrong. Oh, and because it forms a significant chunk of our nation's economy now.

|3.3.06 @ 12:51PM|#

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.

Thank goodess the government is there to protect us from advocacy groups like this! ...Now, if they could only protect us from the people who want to raise the speed limit! ...or the home school crowd!

If Karen Tandy said this, then Karen Tandy is an asshole.

Warren|3.3.06 @ 12:55PM|#

Rhywun,
I'm not so sure. If in just one city in Canada is permitted a legal, taxed and regulated, recreational drug market, the whole house of cards will come crashing down. No way could prohibition stand next to a free market. And in spite of setbacks like Marc's arrest and the Conservative Party success in the recent election, Canada is still becoming more accepting of marijuana.

Of course Canada today looks a lot like the US in the 70's, so no question they could reverse course just as we did. I'm just saying, that just one taxed and regulated market in the free world is all it takes for me to be dancing in the streets.

|3.3.06 @ 1:06PM|#

If in just one city in Canada is permitted a legal, taxed and regulated, recreational drug market, the whole house of cards will come crashing down.

Well, that's a nice thought, but I'm not holding my breath. Walls can go up on the northern border just as easily as on the southern.

|3.3.06 @ 1:16PM|#

Forgive me for being blunt, but weed like all the pun-filled drug reeferences to stop.

|3.3.06 @ 1:20PM|#

I'd rather be with someone who smokes weed, rather than someone who drinks.

Warren|3.3.06 @ 1:25PM|#

Ken Shultz,
She said it.
What's even more interesting is [see link in next post (stupid Reason squirrels)] which makes no mention of Ms. Tandy's remarks, but instead claims "He directed his business with efficiency, was motivated by greed". But Marc used nearly all his profits from seed sale to support his legalization activism. Knowing that one of the government's favorite tricks is to accuse someone of being a drug dealer and then seizing all their property, Marc divested himself of all assists. He owns no house, car or land, no piles of money for the drug warriors to steal. But that hardly matters to what the DEA says. They are so use to having everything they say swallowed whole, they don't even bother with the facts. I just hope Tandy and a few others are made to answer for these statements while under oath.

Warren|3.3.06 @ 1:26PM|#

this page

brian423|3.3.06 @ 6:37PM|#

Rhywun:
The "war" on drugs will never end because it would be too embarassing for 99.44% of our politicians to admit they were wrong.

When they need to, politicians can find a slick way to change their minds without losing too much face. It wouldn't be the first time the government admitted it was wrong, e.g., internment of Japanese-Americans.

Beware, Rhywun. Your pessimism (and that of others) can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, so I would suggest that we're morally obligated to be cautiously optimistic that justice will eventually prevail. A prevalent attitude of cautious optimism makes it more likely to happen.

Warren|3.3.06 @ 7:09PM|#

God damnit! I just realized I linked to the same page twice.
This is the other link

Joseph A Nagy Jr|3.3.06 @ 11:16PM|#

Do we have a video of the interview itself?

Evan McElravy|3.4.06 @ 9:16AM|#

Of course Canada today looks a lot like the US in the 70's, so no question they could reverse course just as we did.

What?

Warren|3.4.06 @ 10:18AM|#

Evan,
I mean in regards to marijuana and the law. Back in the 70's MJ was illegal but the laws were getting less stringent. Busting someone for smoking a joint or even selling small weight was too petty to bother with most of the time. One could generally light up at a concert or beach or park (but not around children) without fear. Most cities had 'head shops' that openly sold and advertised pipes, bongs, and other 'paraphernalia'. Pot wasn't legal but there was a casual acceptance that we called decriminalized. That all changed in the Reagan years.

Canada today is similarly tolerant, though with new wrinkles like medical marijuana. However the recent election put the Conservative Party in power. Many Conservative Party candidates made "crack down on pot" (reminiscent of 80's Republicans) part of their campaign. There have been some high profile busts, but just how far they are willing and able to go to put the genie back in the bottle remains to be seen.

Matt|3.4.06 @ 10:23AM|#

And Americans are still asking the question "Why do they hate us?"

Canadians better stand up for each other fight or else we'll be coming for more of them.

In the meantime, America is just adding another country to the List of Dissenting Nations.

Tim|3.4.06 @ 12:19PM|#

Many Conservative Party candidates made "crack down on pot" (reminiscent of 80's Republicans) part of their campaign

Well, the big news in Canada today is that the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is stonewalling an ethics investigation for possbily bribing a Liberal member, David Emerson, to sit as a Conswervative in exchange for a cabinet position.

His press flack is accusing the investigator of bias because he was not appointed by Conservatives, and it is turning into a Nixon vs. Cox fiasco.

High hypocrisy too, especially since the Conservatives ran on a "clean up the government" platform. This couldn't come at a worse time too, because the Conservatives only have a plurality of seats, not a majority, and I feel the government will be brought down over this in April when Parliament resumes.

|3.5.06 @ 8:00PM|#

I stand by my earlier statement that the "war" on drugs will never end - not as long as arrogant, doublethinking SOB's like the DEA flack who's on 60 minutes right now remain in power.

Emery doesn't seem too concerned about spending the rest of his life in jail. I think he's underestimated the effectiveness of American anti-drug propaganda if he thinks he's going to become some kind of martyr.

|3.6.06 @ 11:25AM|#

I think the guy they interviewed is the US Attorney for Western Washington. This means the insanity goes far beyond the DEA.

If ever I need evidence of the fact that only morons and/or lunatics rise to the top of major public institutions the advocates of the War on Drugs provide it.