cannabisnews.com: B.C.'s 'Prince of Pot'










  B.C.'s 'Prince of Pot'

Posted by FoM on August 07, 2001 at 07:03:49 PT
By Diane Francis, National Post 
Source: National Post 

Marijuana has emerged as a multi-billion-dollar industry in Canada, largely because the United States maintains a vigorous opposition to pot at the same time Canadian authorities turn a blind eye to its cultivation and possession. In the second of a three-part series, National Post columnist Diane Francis speaks with Canadian pot culture guru and self-proclaimed reefer royalty, Marc Emery.It is Friday night and Marc Emery and his colleagues are rolling 2,000 reefers on his coffee table, in anticipation of a big pot picnic tomorrow on an island off the Sunshine Coast.
Should be quite an event: There are bags and bags of grass -- worth $9,000 -- on the table, all of it grown from the marijuana seeds that are the centrepiece of Mr. Emery's livelihood. Each of the expected 50 or so picnickers will be given a jar containing 22 joints in a variety of flavours -- Northern Lights, Jolly Ranchers, Cherry Bomb and many more.But it takes a long time to roll up that many joints. By 3 a.m., everyone is stoned and work comes to a standstill, unfinished.Marc Emery, at 43, is the linchpin for virtually all Canadian efforts to legalize marijuana. "I'm the Prince of Pot," is how he describes himself between drags on his bong, in an apartment overlooking Vancouver's beautiful Coal Harbour.Yes, he is a revolutionary -- but not Central Casting's version. He is a right-wing marijuana magnate who is making millions in order to overthrow the prohibition against cannabis. "I've developed a business to finance a revolution. I sell marijuana seeds around the world and take these proceeds of crime to subvert the system."To this end, Mr. Emery employs about 40 workers and operates a bookstore on West Hastings Street; produces a daily Internet television show called POT-TV; heads Cannabis Culture magazine; and is the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party. He finances these money-losing ventures by selling up to $3-million worth of seeds each year by mail order to buyers around the world. His motto, he says, is "to overgrow government."His seed business, he explains, is not illegal. "There's no drug quality in a seed. But it's considered a precursor to a restricted and controlled substance."Which is not to say he has not had brushes with the law. He has been jailed. His business has been shut down twice. His seeds have been confiscated. But charges are always dropped, or else he has received a small fine.Police and politicians know Marc Emery: "He's not a priority but a pain in the ass," says RCMP Staff Sergeant Chuck Doucette. "Marijuana combines the two largest killers -- alcohol and tobacco -- together in one drug. Organized crime has started to move into the growing and trafficking of this drug. His case, involving seeds, is before the courts and yet he's allowed to be the head of a political party. Why does society allow that? And I can't understand why Revenue Canada hasn't gone after Marc. Can you?"In fact, Mr. Emery says he declares $145,000 a year income on which he pays $60,000 in taxes. But he keeps no books and moves his seed business from safe house to safe house so his inventory cannot be seized.He buys seeds from local growers as well as from German seed companies, then advertises them in his catalogue and on his Internet television show. "I give no receipts to growers and keep no books. That would be proof of a conspiracy to traffic," he says."I give all the money I make away immediately to provide people with bail money or to pay their legal costs. I own nothing. This is why they don't raid me. All my money is in by noon and out by 4 p.m. and there's nothing left to take. I'm judgment-proof. The biggest fine I've paid is $2,000. If they force me out of business again, I will just personally go bankrupt."He was raised in London, Ont., by two British parents. He is a libertarian and business whiz who is incensed when the state intrudes on personal freedoms. He began his business life at age 11 buying and selling comic books. Next came books. "I'm just a bookseller from London, Ont., who believes in Ayn Rand," he says.He describes his early activism: "I first went to jail for breaking the Sunday shopping law and then over a garbage strike in 1986. I provided a free garbage service because the government union shut down this service. I hate unions so I took the garbage to a private landfill site. I was charged but they dropped these charges eventually. I was also charged for home-schooling my four adopted children in Ontario."Marijuana activism came to the forefront when revisions to the Criminal Code in 1988 made it illegal to sell or publish books or periodicals such as High Times that promote pot. He was appalled: "I have a passion for social justice and was stunned when Canadian society had banned the truthful discussion of anything. I took copies of High Times and sold them in front of the police station in London, begging them to arrest me," he recalls. He got into the seed business in 1994.Today, Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds exports the powerful strains developed in British Columbia and elsewhere that cause plants to reach maturity fast and in all kinds of conditions, indoors and outdoors. These plants are "female," though without seeds, because they are harvested from female clones, which have no seeds.They are sold by mail order at a cost of between $2 and $40 a seed. The average price is $6, the average order 30 seeds, with 85% of the orders headed for the United States, even though cultivation of marijuana could reap offenders a 10-year prison term there."I'm the biggest. I sell 430 varieties," he says. "I can sell a certain seed that grows in a certain climate at certain times of the year. I can sell you a product that is good for sex. I can sell you seeds that result in tall thin plants or ones that are dwarf."His seed catalogue is contained in the front of every issue of his Cannabis Culture and at www.emeryseeds.com. Descriptions are quite detailed: Northern Lights, we learn, reaches maturity within 50 to 55 days, produces "fat, chunky" buds, is not smelly and delivers a "heavy lethargic stone." Buddah seeds, costing $120 each, are described as the "talk of the town in Amsterdam." Then there are Euforia seeds, which cost $95 each; they do well in a greenhouse and deliver "that famous Skunk high."His records contain only initials and the city name, to protect the identity of customers. He does not worry about getting arrested: "Jail is only about time. I was jailed for opening my bookstore in Ontario on Sundays in order to fight the blue laws. But this is an enormous issue. This is about people's lives being ruined for using a substance that's not as harmful as others legally allowed," he says.While using his profits to bring the issue to public attention, his seeds have spawned a gigantic, illicit marijuana growing and exporting industry that has U.S. law-enforcement agencies upset.But his operation, and others in Canada, are of fairly recent vintage."There was absolutely no pot grown in Canada before 1969," he says. "But hippie travellers brought California and Mexican seeds. These were combined with high-altitude strains from Afghanistan and India. Indoor grows did not get started until 1980. Now one $200, 3,000-watt bulb can grow one pound. That's when growing shifted from outdoor to indoor. Now there is just too much money going to people on the basis of illegality."Most of his supply comes from home-grow operations and Germany, where marijuana possession and cultivation have become virtually decriminalized. Switzerland will be another source country this year because it has just made marijuana legal."We don't buy anything from Amsterdam to be mailed to us because that would tip off the authorities right away," he says. That is because Amsterdam is the first jurisdiction in the developed world where coffee houses are licensed to sell marijuana to patrons.Vancouver, dubbed "Vansterdam," is the pot capital of Canada and multi-billion-dollar growing operations proliferate in the city and province. And Mr. Emery is at the centre of it all: His store houses the political party, a bookstore and television studio. It also sells pot paraphernalia. When I was there, two patrons pulled on joints while they examined pipes and books.Next door is the Blunt Bros. Café -- a "smokeasy" with a sealed-off room, such as airports have, where people can smoke marijuana before returning to the café area to drink coffee and listen to music. The café has never been busted, although others, including one Mr. Emery owned, have. "We have been a threat to the agenda, but Blunt Bros. hasn't been," he explains."Dignity time" every day is 4:20 p.m. -- when city by-law enforcement shuts down and POT-TV airs on the Internet. Then, people can smoke wherever they like in the building. No one bothers them. "Who cares about a bunch of hippies," says a police officer. "We're busy busting grow-ops all over the province."A few years back, there was a crackdown on such cafés, but marijuana smoking is everywhere in the city. In hotel lobbies, restaurants and even on the street, its distinctive smell wafts through the air at most times of day."The most important place in the world is Vancouver, which is the centre of resistance to marijuana prohibition. It's the main pressure point and Marc is the centre of all this," says Richard Cowan, a wealthy U.S. activist and founding president of NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) who works as anchorman for Internet POT-TV. "He's the only person I know who is this hybrid of entrepreneur and activist."Mr. Cowan says Mr. Emery recently spent $200,000 to get several people out of jail who were in for marijuana offences. He has also contributed toward the legal fees involved in a Charter challenge to be heard this fall by the Supreme Court of Canada into whether marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional.Last Monday, Canada announced changes to its marijuana policy and is growing pot for physicians to distribute next year to patients who have a year or less to live, or who have specific debilitating conditions. This is part of a clinical trial that came about as a result of a court case.And it turns out Mr. Emery, the Prince of Pot, lays claim to having his hand even in that, albeit indirectly -- and he is not happy about it. The seeds for this legal operation came from him and other "criminals" whose supplies have been confiscated."Isn't that outrageous?" he asks. "To think that I've been inducted into this experiment involuntarily and my unpurchased assets are part of this government initiative."What is next? Mr. Cowan believes Mr. Emery's efforts will result in full legalization in Canada within two years.Mr. Emery is more the realist. "I'm not sure," he says. "But I don't care because I have a wonderful life. I'm so lucky. Here I am doing something that I believe in and that's fun."Why do I do this? I think it's because I grew up reading Spider-Man comics and Spider-Man was a person who just wanted to do the right thing and just wanted to save the world."Note: At the centre of the campaign to decriminalize pot in Canada is a right-wing marijuana magnate residing in 'Vansterdam' who, like his childhood hero, Spider-Man, just wants to save the world.National Post Special Series Source: National Post (Canada) Author: Diane Francis, National PostPublished: August 7, 2001Copyright: 2001 Southam Inc. Contact: letters nationalpost.com Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ POT - TVhttp://www.pot-tv.net/Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmThe Taxman's Lost Cash Crophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10531.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=canada

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Comment #9 posted by GW--Salem,OR on August 08, 2001 at 00:30:02 PT

Marc Emery Is Da Man!
Thank you, Marc. Thanks to you, I have some beautiful babies growing, and guess what, two of them are girls! BTW, screw you Uncle Sam, because the state of Oregon says I can have them. USA, USA
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on August 07, 2001 at 21:16:29 PT

Just a Comment
I never say anything when I post an article where it is about Marc Emery because I only know what I have read in news articles and what I've seen when he is on TV. He had a vision and he followed it and has achieved success. I admire people who step out like he did and in a sense made a way for many to follow in his footsteps. I wish him good luck.
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Comment #7 posted by freedom fighter on August 07, 2001 at 20:49:36 PT

overgrow
overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow, overgrow,the gubmint!www.overgrow.com
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Comment #6 posted by aocp on August 07, 2001 at 18:12:43 PT

Poor baby
"He's not a priority but a pain in the ass," says RCMP Staff Sergeant Chuck Doucette.See the title, jackass."Marijuana combines the two largest killers -- alcohol and tobacco -- together in one drug.And i've got some florida swampland to sell ya. A high school forensics student could tear this intellectual midget a new a-hole. Pathetic.Organized crime has started to move into the growing and trafficking of this drug.How brilliant. When something is illegal, BY DEFINITION, only criminals will be able to take part in its trade. Pathetic.His case, involving seeds, is before the courts and yet he's allowed to be the head of a political party. Why does society allow that?And here i thought he wasn't a "priority". How things change between sentences, huh?And I can't understand why Revenue Canada hasn't gone after Marc. Can you?"Yup. I personally can think of tons of what i consider to be pains-in-the-asses and simply ignore them. Correllation?
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Comment #5 posted by PoisonedFor4YrsSoFar on August 07, 2001 at 09:10:18 PT

6 glazed 6 chocolate please
What a great idea Patrick!Pot donuts!! i will take6 glazed and 6 chocolate!
TORTUREbecauseYOUdisagreeISanATROCITYandACRIMEagainstHUMANITYpedowatchBASTARDS
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Comment #4 posted by Patrick on August 07, 2001 at 08:40:53 PT

Hey J.R. It's Amazing
It's amazing that a police officer can leave for work drunk (twice the legal limit) kill a couple of innocent people crossing the street, and not even spend a night in JAIL.But heaven forbid someone smokes a little pot or grows a couple of plants. Then all hell breaks loose. Swat teams kick doors in and value a couple of weeds at several thousand dollars and claim to have protected the public from the evils of illegal drugs.Question: Mr Politician. What do you say now? What drugs, illegal or legal are more harmful to society at large? Alcohol or marijuana? (mumbles under his breath something in coherent) and proclaims something about pot being illegal and harmful.By the way Kevin, I don't know if paint chips are toxic enough to damage his brain that bad. I think someone slipped a BC bud donut! LOL
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Comment #3 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on August 07, 2001 at 07:48:40 PT

What your local police are imbibing
  See the link below for a story on how a drunken driver, who is also a police officer, killed people with his car and didn't have to go to jail. And Chuck Doucette would rather have this sort of behaviour than to allow a peace pipe to get passed between consenting adults??
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20010806/us/family_run_over_6.html
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Comment #2 posted by Kevin Hebert on August 07, 2001 at 07:17:21 PT:

Hmmm.....
"Marijuana combines the two largest killers -- alcohol and tobacco -- together in one drug"Well, other than the fact that marijuana contains neither alcohol nor tobacco, and never killed anyone, I suppose this is a true statement.What do they feed cops to make them say things like this? Paint chips?
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Comment #1 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on August 07, 2001 at 07:17:12 PT

Thank God almighty for Marc Emery and crew!!!
>>"Who cares about a bunch of hippies," says a police officer. "We're busy busting grow-ops all over the province."  The grow ops SUPPLY the hippies, of course, and used to be RUN by the hippies until the gang with all the guns started busting them, and now they're run by gangs with guns. >>Marijuana combines the two largest killers -- alcohol and tobacco -- together in one drug.  Chuck Doucette would be perfect to run the grow operation in Flim-Flam, because apparently he knows absolutely NOTHING about cannabis whatsoever!! I used to think that, because alcohol was legal and cannabis was not, that therefore cannabis had to be more dangerous than alcohol and tobacco just because it made sense... then I learned I was just implicitly trusting the government, which had been lying to me. Can Chuck Doucette learn, too? Marc Emery's not the pain in the  $$ - it's the RCMP!!!
Pot-TV
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