Paul Emery Arrested in Canada by order of USA DEA

[crazymf]

Why not dopism? Alcoholism is a word as well as an implied lifestyle.

Acknowledging he's a criminal is a step for you BD, but I don't pass judgement on whether his penalty is just or not, merely that he's a criminal. On that we agree.

Pot-TV, CC Magazine, the BCMP: they cannot be giving me money.

Is Emery good for his word? I don't know. I doubt you do either, but merely using some other written article as fact to argue your point is weak at best. The point that it supports is fairly irrelevant. He's also said he makes millions and implies that there is money in the companies but doesn't think it's appropriate to use it, which does support my opinion, which is that he's not a crusader, but merely a criminal dopehead trying to culture a market for his wares for personal gain.

A scumbag drug dealer.

[Black Dog]

Is Emery good for his word? I don't know. I doubt you do either, but merely using some other written article as fact to argue your point is weak at best. The point that it supports is fairly irrelevant. He's also said he makes millions and implies that there is money in the companies but doesn't think it's appropriate to use it, which does support my opinion, which is that he's not a crusader, but merely a criminal dopehead trying to culture a market for his wares for personal gain.

There's no such implication being made:

According to statements made during his bail hearing, Emery pays $3,000 a month for his Vancouver apartment. But Emery said he does not own any assets or property.

"I don't need any possessions," he said. "I'm merely a conduit for possessions -- I'm not meant to handle them."

Emery, a father of four, said he also paid income tax -- about $380,000 over the past five years -- on his earnings from marijuana seed sales.

"The federal government was aware, because I told them," he said. "They said to me, 'You're the only guy that's ever admitted that.' The federal government is more complicit than I am by far."

What's more, the DEA has stated that Emery's donations to U.S. lobby groups are one of the reasons he was targetted:

"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."

- D.E.A. administrator Karen Tandy quoted in the August 5, 2005 Seattle Post Intelligencer

Backgrounder with business history

Acknowledging he's a criminal is a step for you BD, but I don't pass judgement on whether his penalty is just or not, merely that he's a criminal. On that we agree.

But the penalties he face have a direct bearing on whether he'll be extradited.

Here's what the Extradition Act says:

44. (1) The Minister shall refuse to make a surrender order if the Minister is satisfied that

(a) the surrender would be unjust or oppressive having regard to all the relevant circumstances

I think 10 years to life for a misdemeanor could be considered "unjust or oppressive".

[crazymf]

You agreed with me he's done crimes, so I'll agree with you that the penalty may be harsh.

However, if the compounded consequences of his actions can be factored in by accounting for how many lives he's wrecked with addictions and so forth, the crime could be construed as being more serious than it's made out to be by say, you.

I don't want to go there too far because I don't really know.

If my kid was a dopehead because of seed he produced and made available, I'd want him to burn in hell. I think it really depends on the indivual opinion whether the penalty is deemed harsh or not.

The other issue of the USA extending their laws seemingly over the border; well, I'm a law abiding citizen and don't have much to worry about so I don't think it makes any difference to me. Also, I think we should get used to it because Canada is pretty much a puppet state of the USA anyway, whether be economically or socially. We just like to think we're independent, but they win, one way or another, whether we agree or not. Can't beat em, join em.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear crazymf,

If my kid was a dopehead because of seed he produced and made available, I'd want him to burn in hell. I think it really depends on the indivual opinion whether the penalty is deemed harsh or not.

If your kid eventually drinks a beer, does that make him/her an alcoholic and the beer hucksters 'scumbags', worthy of burning in hell? (after all, alcohol is far worse than 'the pot')

If your position is that 'the worse drug' is ok because the gov't (influenced by the corporations that profit by such a decision) said so, and the 'less harmful drug' is bad because the gov't (and corporations that would profit by such a decision) said so, then I shudder to think that you have 'the vote'.

[Black Dog]

However, if the compounded consequences of his actions can be factored in by accounting for how many lives he's wrecked with addictions and so forth, the crime could be construed as being more serious than it's made out to be by say, you.

I don't want to go there too far because I don't really know.

Well, there's no way to prove that Emery has wrecked a single life by selling marijuana seeds, so for the state to use that as a basis for determining punishment would be a step towards totalitarianism.

If my kid was a dopehead because of seed he produced and made available, I'd want him to burn in hell. I think it really depends on the indivual opinion whether the penalty is deemed harsh or not.

So you're basically be wanting to punish Emery for the choices your kid makes.

Not only that, you seem to have a lot of weird ideas about marijuana which is a far less harmful drug than the widely available alcohol.

The other issue of the USA extending their laws seemingly over the border; well, I'm a law abiding citizen and don't have much to worry about so I don't think it makes any difference to me. Also, I think we should get used to it because Canada is pretty much a puppet state of the USA anyway, whether be economically or socially. We just like to think we're independent, but they win, one way or another, whether we agree or not. Can't beat em, join em.

Anschluss here we come?

[crazymf]

You know, I'm not conceding anything here, but I'm tired of this useless back and forth. We're not getting anywhere and you guys haven't said anything to really change my mind or opinion. It's a dead end issue and I'm done with it.

I might add that my mind isn't atrophied and stagnant. I've actually changed my mind somewhat on separation of the west after reading on this board and discussing a few things. This issue, however is done.

[Shady]

Here's a guy who built a hugely successful business by cornering a section of the marketplace

And by breaking American drug laws. However, the issue isn't about the health effects of marijuana, or Paul Emery's business acumen. It's about his distribution of marijuana seeds in the United States, which is strictly prohibited. You people continue to skirt the real issue.

[Black Dog]

And by breaking American drug laws. However, the issue isn't about the health effects of marijuana, or Paul Emery's business acumen. It's about his distribution of marijuana seeds in the United States, which is strictly prohibited. You people continue to skirt the real issue.

No one is denying Emery sold seeds in the States, or that it is illegal to do so. The issue is whether Emery can be extradited. For a crime to be extraditable, it must be an offense in both nations. Both Canada and the United States consider it a crime to sell marijuana, but since Canadian police have long turned a blind eye to seed sellers like Emery, there's an argument to be made that, since Canadian authorities chose not to prosecute, then his offense was not severe enough to warrant extradition, especially in light of the insane punishment he could face.

[theloniusfleabag]

I doubt Emery will be extradited, for as Black Dog states, he ran his business with full knowledge of the Canadian gov't. Evidently Health Canada referred patients to his website for medicinal marijuana, though I haven't looked into this yet.

[Guest eureka]

I do not condone Emery's passion. I have read as many reports claiming that Marijuana is not a har,less substance substance and is, in fact, more dangerous than cigarette tobacco. What is true, I don't know. I do know that those who warn against it are buried in the new PC. I had a friend - I haven't seen him for several years - who was a senior official with the Mental Health and Addiction centre and I remember how concerned he was.

However, in the context of this discussion, I am opposed to extradition of Emery. He has committed no extraditable offense. Even if it were such an offense, I would oppose extradition since the punishment in the US is far too severe and the attitude to drug use is hysterical and hypocritical.

[shoop]

I think this affair calls to mind two very big questions.

Why does a multi-millionaire like Emery need a legal defence fund?

Isn't he really just another example of the rich "man" keeping the people down by taking their money to fund a fight he has ample personal resources to pay for?

[mcqueen625]

Get a life! What right does Emery have to export illegal drugs into another country? Under recipricll agreements with not just the U.S, but with other countries, Canada is obliged to enforce the law regarding extridition. If we don't act, what about the next time some American commits a crime against the laws of Canada like conspiring to export Cocaine or Heroine into Canada, I'm sure Canada is going to want that person arrested and extridited to Canada to face charges, albiet the American criminal would probalby think that was great because the likelihood of doing time in an actual jail for such a crime is less likely in Canada. The criminal might get probation or 6 months of house arrest in Canada while state-side it would be years behind bars.

There was a case of Canadian from the Rothersay area of NB that committed numerous acts of fraud involving $thousands of dollars and the first thing that he did was apply to be transferred back to Canada to serve his time, knowing that if he got the transfer our joke of a criminal justice system would have probably just released him. The State Governor refused on the grounds that knowing how lenient the Canadian stytem was, he ruled that he can come back to Canada just as soon as he can gain release from the State prison, at the end of his sentence. The Governor went on to state that he would not take the chance that Canadian authorities would just set him free. He wanted to make sure that he did every day of his sentence.