No offense intended to individual American friends, but. . .

[velvetpage]

This is to protest the extradition of Marc Emery on drug charges. He sold cannabis seeds online, and Canadian authorities have basically treated it as soon-to-be-made-legal activism, and have done nothing. The U.S., however, wants him extradited. The maximum penalty in Canada would be about two years, if anyone bothered to prosecute. The maximum penalty in the U.S. is life with no parole for ten years.

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I dunno. It's not like he didn't know he was selling to the US...

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

It's a crime in Canada, and it was committed in Canada. They should either stick by their own laws and try him here, or admit that they no longer care, decriminalize it, and then not extradite. If it were already decriminalized, there would be no issue; Canada won't extradite someone unless the crime of which they're accused is illegal in both nations.

They're prepared to extradite because a) they don't mind having the U.S. do their dirty work for them, and b) they'd rather appease the U.S. than stand by their own principles - such as they are.

I'm not a big fan of drug culture, but life for selling a bit of weed seems rather excessive.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of that.

I also think he was a big moron. :)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well. The life of a political activist, and all that.

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he's just as aware as we are of the Canadian government's willingness to appease the U.S. It would have been smarter for him not to export until the legal issues have been resolved.

If everyone who was associated with pot use in Canada was prosecuted, I'm not sure there'd be many people I know left (present company excluded, of course, as well as my parents, and a lot of the older generation).
I'm pretty sure most of my highschool would have been in trouble. Ah who am I kidding, most of them were. There was a conservation area/ravine only a few minutes away from the school, and I remember classmates coming back from lunch with 'allergies'. *smirk* Right.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Doing this in plain sight is a part of the activism he was engaging in. If he'd refused to export, he would have lost most of the message he was trying for.

I think he decided to export, knowing there was the possibility of something like this happening. That's no reason why we should let it happen.

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Not what I would have done, but I don't have an activist's soul, nor do I feel very strongly on the topic.

[collie13.livejournal.com]

The U.S., however, wants him extradited.

As a US citizen, I can categorically state I do not want to see him extradited. I find it embarrassing when my government engages in bullying other nations. Therefore, no offense taken, as I happen to agree with you.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Care to write to your congressman, or whoever would have some pull in this? :)

Rabble.ca has an open letter from an American journalist to our justice minister stating that he finds it embarrassing, too. I find it insulting, personally.

[collie13.livejournal.com]

An excellent point. Thank you for the link! ;)

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Selling the seeds in Canada is NOT a crime, which makes this all the more antagonizing.

[tormentedartist.livejournal.com]

I'm not offended at all. In fact I'm outraged at the drug laws in this country. You could, rape someone or kill them and spend less time in jail, than if you got caught with a large dollar amount of drugs.

How fucked is that ?

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Not very, if you're talking about cocaine or something equally deserving of strict control because even one use can be very dangerous. But extremely so, if you're talking about weed. No one is less inclined to violence than a regular weed smoker. It's crazy.