PRESS RELEASE

AUGUST 19, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CANADA’S PROVOCATIVE ‘PRINCE OF POT’ GOES TO JAIL FOR PASSING JOINTS

SASKATOON – Marc Emery, President of the B.C. Marijuana Party, founder of POT-TV.net and one of Canada’s most media-savvy and provocative pot activists was sentenced to 90 days in jail in a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Provincial Court by Judge Lavoie late this afternoon on a charge of trafficking marijuana. The charge stem from a March 22, 2004 incident following a political speech Emery gave at the University of Saskatoon in the run up to the federal election in which Mr. Emery passed two joints to fellow smokers in a crowd. Judge Lavoie stated the sentence was directed at "making an example" of Marc Emery.

Emery shared two marijuana cigarettes with individuals who met with him after attending his speech. Currently under Canadian law the non-commercial transfer of marijuana between individuals, even for the purposes of sharing, is considered trafficking. The proposed Liberal government’s decriminalization bill would not change this aspect of the law despite strong objections by the NDP.

A Statistics Canada report released July 21 revealed that over one third (over ten million Canadians) have used marijuana in their lifetime. Presumably in most if not all of these instances, marijuana was transferred between individuals on a non-commercial basis (i.e. shared with a friend or spouse). Many Canadians would be surprised to learn that simply passing a joint between friends is considered trafficking under law and would lead to being put in jail. The charge of trafficking carries with it a possible seven year jail sentence for simply passing a joint to a friend.

Following his arrest Emery spent three nights in jail, was forced to pay $3,500 bail and additional legal costs, as well as agree to stipulations severely restricting his rights and freedoms – all for passing two joints. As one of the most tenacious, prominent and visible leaders of the cannabis political movement in Canada, Emery’s incarceration is sure to set off political fireworks in the coming months as an growing and embolden pro-legalization activist community prepares to launch a full offensive against the government’s effort to revive a failed decriminalization bill in the fall. Emery’s case stands as an example of how the weak and ill-conceived Liberal decriminalization bill would do very little to improve the lives of Canadians and the flaws inherent in the current system.

Activists hope to use Emery’s situation as an example to convey the sense of injustice that continues to be felt as a result of a thirty year failure to reform Canada’s outdated prohibition laws. In this day and age, no Canadian should be subjected to a prison for pot use between friends, say activists. In 2002, the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs unanimously found that the policy of prohibiting marijuana causes more harm to Canadians than inherently exists from marijuana use alone. On June 5, 2004, just weeks before the federal election, Emery spoke to a crowd of thousands at an unprecedented pro-legalization rally on Parliament Hill. Emery was scheduled to appear next at the Canabian Day festival in Hamilton on Saturday August 21.

Contact Info:

Marc Emery’s legal counsel, Leanne Johnson 306-249-6592 or 306-717-4157
Media Contact BC Marijuana Party, Pot TV (604)684-7076; or Chris Bennett(604) 215-7973

shit!! does he get out in 60? it must be the longest jail time emery has ever had to do (and probably ever will do)

has anyone heard of a trafficking charge for passing a joint? ever??

we should petition human rights watch to designate marc as an official political prisoner

for crying out loud...could you imagine 10 million Canadians doing 90 days for every joint they passed!!!

if they want to set an example , then perhaps we should set an example of what a couple million angry cannabis users can do....

rally the troops gang..its time to head up to Saskatoon..

jonathon cohen is originally from toronto and he works for human rights watch in new york...he wrote a report about the vancouver drug scene titled: Abusing the User...i forwarded the press release to him just now in hopes that he will be sympathetic to marc's plight:

abusing the user:
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/canada/

The CBC just did a radio interview with me regarding Marc's sentance.

I told them people should use it as another opportunity to point out that "harmless people should not be harmed themselves" and that people could find out more at www.cannabisculture.com and www.pot-tv.net.

Looks like we should plan for some kind of protest. Perhaps we could have a Cross-Country "Free Marc Emery" rally on Saturday the 28th? That will give us just over a week to make posters and put them up.

Okay Chris, so far I've hit all the TV and newspaper media on Vancouver Island and the BBC World service.

Maybe a national day of action with 'trafficking circles' in front of police stations across the country. Everyone take one or two joints, stand in a circle with your friends and take turns trafficking (sharing) marijuana with each other. I wonder how many cities we could get something like this (or any other form of protest) in.

Now is the time for us to come to the aid of Marc Emery.

We need to have someone outside where he is being held. Every day, someone should be there with a sign saying "Free Marc Emery" and handing out flyers to passers-by.

Who is in Saskatoon who can do this? Who is willing to travel to Saskatoon to help do this?

We don't need a large protest, but we do need at least one or two people there every single day.

I would be willing to come to Saskatoon and help do this for a while next week. Who else can volunteer?

I'm in Dana.