The Prince of Pot

[lead]Laura Flaherty spoke to Marc Emery during his visit to UCC last week[/lead][hr gap="2"] For readers unfamiliar with your story, how would you introduce yourself? My name is Marc Emery and I am a marijuana advocate, lover of marijuana and, as a consequence of that devotion, I have been dedicating my life for the last 25 years to civil disobedience and advancement of legalisation in Canada and the US by breaking the law in support of our honest, peaceful lifestyle.I have raised a lot of money and given it away, $5 million in a 10 year period, which attracted the attention of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and they had me extradited to the USA. Five weeks ago I was released after a five year prison sentence that I received ostensibly for selling cannabis seeds to Americans from my desk in Vancouver, Canada. No one else has ever been imprisoned in the US for selling seeds, I mean, there's no drug quality to seeds.

"That's a very nerve wracking experience, waiting to be told at any time the appeals were over and I was going to federal prison in America."

On the topic of seeds, we have a law in Ireland whereby the sale of seeds and all necessary equipment is 100% legal, but once the seed germinates, the law is broken. What do you make of that? What's happening there is a criminal intent idea. That is, if you buy those seeds for eating, then that's okay, but if you grow pot you are breaking the law. I can see why that law is in place but there is a degree of hypocrisy and misunderstanding. I'm glad to see that seeds are sold in Ireland.You're nicknamed the ‘Prince of Pot’; how do you feel about that?I like that nickname. It is only important to me in the sense that people I claim to be a spokesman for think I am doing a good job. If they didn't think I was doing a good job, I would feel really depressed about being called the Prince of Pot. I take it very seriously. I didn't call myself that, it was given to me by CNN and it's been repeated by Time Magazine and others for the past 17 years.How does it feel to be on both sides of the law: To run for election one year and face imprisonment the next?I've actually been in 12 elections in Canada since 1980, including running for mayor of Canada, and I always enjoy those opportunities even though I probably won't get elected. It's an opportunity to educate other candidates who may get elected, as well as the voters at large.25 years ago there was a complete blackout on anything to do with cannabis, like books, bongs, etc. I think we have come very far, in Vancouver, a very tolerant city, there are 50 cannabis clubs which are unscathed by the authorities. Next year we are hoping for entire legalisation and to have criminal records related to cannabis expunged.What do you think about the sale of alcohol and tobacco?They are very destructive things, but I do know that if you try and deny them to the people, they have their ways of getting them. It just causes more social problems when they do that.We had it in America with prohibition; it did not stop people drinking but led to them making their own alcohol with dubious chemicals. Prohibition corrupts everyone in society; the police and the youths, who are tempted into selling drugs because it will earn them more money than a job in normal society. It makes it a worse place to live in. We are moving towards making the public understand that legalising a substance does not mean condoning it.If cannabis was legalised, do you think that the same restrictions would be placed on it as on alcohol and tobacco?Let me say that I think they probably will create a regime like that, but I don't endorse it. I would accept it, because the most important thing is to legalize pot. It would be discriminatory to those aged 16, who will still try and access the drug. However, politically and socially, we have to go for ages 21 and over.One of the wonderful things I envision about legalisation is that the price will plummet. Instead of $5,000 a month being spent on pot, you could pay college tuition. If it was €20 an ounce instead of 300-400, that could educate anyone.You have talked about your release from prison 5 weeks ago; how did it feel to come so far having had a life sentence staring you in the face? Well, let me put it this way; it was much better to be at the end of it than the beginning, because from 2005 to 2010 there was this expectation that I would be going to jail. That's a very nerve wracking experience, waiting to be told at any time the appeals were over and I was going to federal prison in America.During my sentence Jodie was a very dutiful wife. She visited me 81 times for a total of 163 days. Prison only drags when you're not busy, so I read books and magazines and I was in a Rock 'n' Roll band. I did 14 concerts over three years and I was surrounded by very talented musicians, who were able to teach me bass guitar.

"Nothing that's a genuine crime is laughable."

Was there a sense of betrayal in being extradited? It wasn't like it wasn't expected. There was a conservative government but procedures were decided by the Liberal Party of Canada. Both parties were upset with me; not for selling seeds but because my campaign for legalisation had so much support. They kept going on about my political activity, nothing I did was dangerous. Both governments were, and continue to be, very upset with me.In any movie or show, there tends to be a kind of stoner typecast, what do you think of the stereotype? The stoner representation is present because it is amusing. You can always tell when pot is not seriously regarded as a crime because, often when people talk about it on radio or TV, we all know it's a crime but we all laugh about it. No one laughs about rape or murder. Things that people really consider crime, they're not laughing about it. Nothing that's a genuine crime is laughable.You've said yourself that you live and strive to disobey the law. When you have successfully legalised pot, what is next?Hopefully pot will be real cheap and I will benefit like everyone else by getting it at $20 an ounce and spending money on more important things. Pot is important but only because it is illegal. Once it is made legal it becomes normal.Emery was speaking ahead of last Thursday’s UCC Students for Sensible Drug policy talk. Image by Emmet Curtin.