"Overgrowing the Government" Campaign

Marc Emery and the British Columbia Marijuana Party

The BCMP needs your help. The ongoing struggle against the extradition of the BC Three (Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams) is of critical importance to the future of cannabis policy reform in Canada. With your help, we can win the fight and Canada can become an example of tolerant, compassionate and fact-based cannabis policy. Please help us Overgrow the Government!
What YOU Can Do To Free the BC Three

Every day I receive emails from people asking what they can do to help free the BC Three. There are lots of dedicated and committed people who believe that this extradition attempt is a travesty of justice and a loss of Canadian sovereignty. It is. And it needs to be stopped. Here's what you can do, right now, to help:

1. Print the petitions and gather 25 signatures. Links to Canadian, US and international petitions are here.

2. Call, email and write your local MP and MLA. You can find contact information here.

3. Join the BCMP with a tax-creditable donation by using the donation buttons on the right side of the page. BC residents will be issued a tax reciept which they can use to claim a tax credit of up to $500 from the Provincial government. We have members from around the world - join today! There is strength in numbers.

4. Subscribe to Cannabis Culture magazine.

5. Speak out! Tell your friends, family and neighbors why the extradition is unjust and a violation of Canadian sovereignty.

For years, BCMP President Marc Emery has help further the cause of marijuana policy reform in Canada, the United States and around the world. Now it is time for us to help him, and the other brave activists facing life in a US penitentiary. Please consider making monthly donations until this crisis is behind us and we are able to claim victory over the forces of oppression and intolerance. Even $10 or $20 a month will go a long way toward winning this battle.

Smoke Out America a Major Success!

Beginning on September 10, 2005 and continuing throughout the week, a series of worldwide rallies were held to protest the US Drug Enforcement Agency invasion of Canada. Pictures of the events are available on the Cannabis Culture Forums. The Vancouver rally was attended by hundreds of Canadians all demanding that the US Drug War be removed from Canadian soil and that Canada refuse to extradite our cannabis heroes Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams. Marc delivered speech after speech, tirelessly educating the audience about the evils of US sponsored war on the cannabis culture and the danger that the extradition request posed to Canadian sovereignty.

The BC Three in Court

On Friday September 16, 2005, the BC3 were back in the BC Supreme Court. Two matters were before the Court: the extradition and the MLAT hearings. MLAT is the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, and that process involves the raid on the BCMP, the seizure of evidence and whether that evidence should be turned over to the United States. The MLAT process is distinct from the extradition hearing, but is heard (usually) at the same time.

At the hearing two new attorneys appeared on the record. Ian Donaldson, of the Vancouver criminal law firm Donaldson & Jette, appeared for Marc Emery. Mr. Donaldson is a very experienced criminal defense attorney, a Bencher of the Law Society and one of the top extradition lawyers in the Province. His expertise will be invaluable as the case proceeds. Joe Arvay, another senior counsel who has represented the BC Civil Liberties Association in many constitutional cases (including the Canadian Supreme Court challenge to the cannabis laws), appeared for Greg Williams. John Conroy continued his representation of Michelle Rainey. Because the new lawyers were, well, new, the Court adjourned the extradition proceeding for another month to allow them to go through the disclosures.

The MLAT hearing was also put off a month. This was at the request of the Crown, who informed the Court that the police had not yet been able to process all the documents from the various hard drives seized on the day of the raid. The MLAT was set for late October, the same day as the continuation of the extradition.

All of the BC Three are now represented by experienced counsel. The problem is, of course, that experienced lawyers cost a lot of money. Donations have been generous, but are unfortunately not enough to cover the legal costs. We continue to desperately need your support in order to keep the BC Three safe in Canada. Please donate generously. Even a $4.20 donation will help! Or subscribe to Cannabis Culture magazine and help keep our message out there. With your support, we will win this fight!

Stop the Witchhunt on Weed

On Saturday, September 3, the BCMP participated in a rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery to call for an end to the witchhunt on weed. It is far past time that Canada shrugged off the shackles of the US and took a sensible, compassionate and tolerant approach to the cannabis culture. The recent DEA instigated political prosecution of the BCMP President and Vice President is but the latest in a string of US attempts to influence Canadian domestic social policy.

The Emery extradition bid has wider implications...

This is reprinted from Vancouver Sun:

The attempt to extradite BC Marijuana Party leader Marc Emery to the United States has significant ramifications for marijuana reform efforts in Canada and, indeed, throughout North America.

Emery was a part of virtually every significant effort at changing our approach to marijuana over the last decade. Much to the ire of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Emery has funded political candidates, court challenges, educational conferences and grass-roots initiatives in Canada and across various U.S. cities and states.

Because of this political activism, the DEA targeted Emery. In his post-arrest press conference, U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan expressed disgust with Emery's "overwhelming arrogance" and gloated that the U.S. would no longer have to listen to him.

These comments were followed by a virtual admission of the political motivation behind the prosecution from Karen Tandy, the head of the DEA, who claimed the arrest of "Emery, the publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and founder of a marijuana legalization group is a significant blow to...the marijuana legalization movement."

Under the Extradition Act, the Justice Minister Irwin Cotler must refuse to extradite if it appears that the criminal prosecution, no matter how factually valid, is politically motivated. The U.S. has the same right, exercising it in 2001 to refuse to extradite O.J. Pitawanakwat to Canada to stand trial for his role in the 1995 Gustafson Lake standoff, which featured two months of armed conflict between aboriginal protesters and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Given Tandy's comments, the political nature of the attack on Emery is clear.

Far from clear, however, is whether Tandy was correct in her assessment of the impact on marijuana reform efforts. Emery is a lightning rod, whose arrest should have a galvanizing effect on reformers on both sides of the border. The other activists facing U.S. extradition are Michelle Rainey, who uses marijuana to control Crohn's disease, and Greg Williams, a soft-spoken and articulate expert on all things marijuana. Both are sympathetic figures. They hardly resemble, in appearance or demeanour, the international drug kingpins that the DEA apparently believes them to be.

The extradition proceedings will be played out against an interesting political backdrop. Parliament returns in the fall with marijuana legislation still waiting for a vote two years after its introduction. Canadians will remember that the U.S. drug warriors have already flexed their political muscles on this issue, throwing up the red herring of potential tension at the border if Canada liberalizes pot laws.

A federal election also looms, providing Emery and other reformers with a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the proven failure of prohibition. Ironically, nowhere is that failure more evident than the U.S., which, over the last decade, has shifted the focus of its drug war from cocaine and heroin to marijuana.

In America, marijuana is public enemy number one. Yet, despite hundreds of thousands of annual arrests, exceedingly harsh prison sentences, and the expenditure of an estimated $4 billion US annually, America has seen no decline in either the number of marijuana consumers or the amount of marijuana available on the streets. There is no prohibition success story.

In pursuit of its reefer madness policies, the U.S. imposes lengthy jail sentences on those convicted of marijuana offences. This is significant because the Extradition Act requires the justice minister to refuse extradition if the person will face unjust or oppressive penalties. If extradited, Emery, Rainey and Williams face a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life without the possibility of parole.

In Canada, by contrast, Emery's last seed conviction netted him a small fine. And that was almost a decade ago, when public attitudes to marijuana were less tolerant than today. Since then, Canadian public opinion has liberalized significantly, and the courts have taken note.

The B.C. Court of Appeal recently decided, quite appropriately, that a two-year sentence for growing marijuana worth an estimated $100,000 was "harsh and excessive," imposing a non-custodial conditional sentence instead. If incarceration is not a just sentence for growing the plants, surely the Canadian conscience is shocked by the prospect of life prison terms for selling the seeds.

Canadians might also be shocked at the price of prosecuting the Prince of Pot. The Canadian taxpayer will foot the bill for the multi-year legal battle and may grow tired of paying. After all, Canada does not really seem to consider Emery a criminal. The ministry of health suggested that patients buy marijuana seeds from Internet vendors like Emery. Ottawa accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes from marijuana seed sales. And most Canadians think, rightly, that police have more important things to do than enforce marijuana laws.

Emery's arrest has galvanized activists across Canada. And many Canadians who care nothing about marijuana appear deeply concerned about increasing American intervention into our domestic political issues. If the furore over this case expands beyond the cannabis community, the DEA may have inadvertently set into motion a chain of events that will culminate in real marijuana law reform. And that would be a delicious irony indeed.

BCMP LEADER TARGETED FOR POLITICAL ACTIVISM

The US Drug Enforcement Agency's targeting of Canadian marijuana activist Marc Emery sets a very bad precedent for democracy. Marc Emery is one of the most vocal advocates for changing our marijuana laws. He has funded grass-roots efforts at progressive cannabis policy reform for a decade, including ventures across Canada and in the United States. This activism angered the United States federal government, which has a take on marijuana that makes "Reefer Madness" seems like a documentary.

Sure, the DEA is hiding behind the smokescreen of cracking down on Emery's seed sales. But why, then, were dozens of other seed merchants allowed to do business without interruption? Because only Emery puts his profits back into political activism. The head of the DEA admitted as much, claiming that Emery's arrest dealt a "significant blow...to the marijuana legalization movement."

Canada must not allow Emery, Michelle Rainey (BCMP Vice-President) and Greg Williams to be extradited to face a politically motivated trial in the United States.

BMCP RAIDED IN US DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY ATTACK ON CANADIAN POLITICAL ACTIVISTS

Friday July 29, 2005 was a dark day for Canadian sovereignty and political freedom. Local municipalities have now been drafted as soldiers in the US war on the marijuana plant. The arrests of BCMP Leader Marc Emery, BCMP Vice-President Michelle Rainey and activist Greg Williams were an outrage and we must now stand strong together to fight this injustice.

Marc, Greg and Michelle have been released with very stringent bail conditions. They are not free. Not in any real way. But they are no longer incarcerated and are eager to begin the fight for freedom. It is a fight that it of vital importance to anyone concerned with core democratic principles.

To what extent is Canada prepared to kowtow to draconian US drug policy? The bottom line is that the US and Canada have very different beliefs about marijuana. Those charged in the raids face potential life terms in US federal prison while, just days ago, the BC Court of Appeal said that a 2 year sentence for growing 100 marijuana plants was too harsh and imposed probation instead. The differences do not stop there. The US government says that medical marijuana is a “cruel hoax” while Canada distributes bags of pot directly to patients. One thing the countries do have in common, however, is that a majority of each country’s population support progressive marijuana law reform.

This public support for reform has the US government worried. The raids are clearly politically motivated. Vancouver is home to dozens of seed sellers, some on the same block, but only one — Marc Emery — is an outspoken activist for reform. The DEA targeted Emery, according to statements from the DEA press conference, because of his “arrogance.” This is, clearly, code for his political activism. Canada must stand up to the US and refuse to surrender its sovereignty any further.

We will not let them take our people away.

Your Support Is Crucial

Please donate generously to help fight the extradition request of the US government. Now, more than ever, we need the cannabis culture to pitch in and give money to Marc, as he has done so many times in support of cannabis freedom.