[Newsbot]

<strong>Filibuster Cartoon</strong>
<strong>Title: </strong> <a href="http://www.filibustercartoons.com/archive.php?id=20080115" target="_blank">A Prince Dethroned</a> (click to view)
<strong>Date: </strong> January 15, 2008

So there\'s this obnoxious guy who lives in my province. You may have heard of him, his name is Marc Emery and he calls himself \"the Prince of Pot.\" Basically, he\'s a millionaire drug-dealer who sells Marijuana to anyone who wants it, bot within Canada and around the world. <br> <br>He\'s an enormous media whore. I myself have actually met him several times, just because he always seems to be around anywhere where a camera is present. The fact that he has become such a rich celebrity figure is largely the reason why he\'s never faced any serious legal consequences for his actions, despite the fact that he openly flaunts all manner of Canadian drug law. <br> <br>But the United States is a different story, and has been perusing his arrest for quite some time, as many of Mr. Emery\'s pot seeds are sold to American customers. This week, an extradition deal was finally hammered out between US and Canadian authorities that will see Emery spend five years in a Canadian prison, and likely under a year in a US one. <br> <br>The pro-pot lobby has done a great-deal of hand-wringing over this development, pretending to care about what it means for \"Canadian sovereignty\" and so on. But really, the man broke the law and is getting punished. He\'s no hero, and I don\'t understand why he deserves a special status no other criminal gets.

[fire_i]

How... weird.

[paisley_cross]

Quote:

But the United States is a different story, and has been perusing his arrest for quite some time, as many of Mr. Emery\'s pot seeds are sold to American customers. This week, an extradition deal was finally hammered out between US and Canadian authorities that will see Emery spend five years in a Canadian prison, and likely under a year in a US one.

To hell with the pot-heads. He knew what he was doing when he sold the stuff in the US - he was breaking the law. He's bloody lucky. If he had been caught in the US he would be doing a lot more time.

[EmperorLiam]

I think Marc Emery as a person, is a huge douche. But as an activist... the guy has done incredible service to end prohibition... although sometimes he says and does stupid shit.

Not a spotless record, he spat on a cop during the raid of his store, and called the attorney general a Nazi-Jew. He also outted two seed growers, Reeferman being one.

I had the same lawyer as Marc Emery, John Conroy... they didn't try very hard to win my case either, they didn't even prepare till 4 days before trial. Not impressed with them at all.


BTW JJ, he supposedly ISN'T a millionaire, because he gave away all his money from his illegal seed business, which he sold years ago. Hes does have an apartment that cost $3000 a month, but he also has like four adopted kids as well. So he supposedly isn't in it for the money, he claims to be all activist, I kinda think hes got a fortune hidden away though.



BTW, paisley_cross... breaking unjust laws is the only way to remove them, by challenging them in court. How did you manage to go this long without knowing that?


"I don\'t understand why he deserves a special status no other criminal gets."

So you admit JJ, that you aren't very bright. Well, when you said you were conservative, we kinda figured that one out. Marc Emery is on purpose getting in trouble, the only SPECIAL status he gets is being arrested more often. Hes already done 3 months for a single joint don't forget. Also, he has two co-accused facing extradition, you seem to not even know that.


Marc Emery has also gone to jail protesting many other laws such as the 'no shopping on Sunday' law in Ontario, and other Libertarian issues. He has run about 10 times for political positions.

[JJ]

My problem, sir, is that Mr. Emery and his backers seem to think that he has a right to have the full force of the Canadian state rush to his defense simply because he’s a big important crusader-hero whatever. The law may be an ass, but it’s still the law, and Emery should face the consequences of breaking the law, and become a martyr for his cause, rather than pretend that laws he doesn’t particularly care for are ipso facto illegitimate and should not be enforced.

As mentioned, I particularly dislike the crude, opportunistic appeals to petty Canadian nationalism his side is presently peddling, where honoring a run-of-the-mill extradition treaty with the United States suddenly amount to this huge “violation of Canadian sovereignty” simply because Mr. Emery would rather not go to prison.

I think he’s a vile, slimy, stupid sleazebag who deserves to spend some time in prison if for no other reason than it will hopefully help bring his gigantic ego down a peg.

[Voyager]

Liam, you're fast approaching Red Mage levels of planning connundrum. You do realise, don't you, that there are processes for changing laws.

Protests *only* function when, either the law in question is limited to a small region with little awarness of its existance outside of that region (such as the segregation laws during the 50s and 60s), or when the protestors successfully intimidate the entire overal nation, as they have in the Palistinian areas.

Everyone knows that Canada and the US ban weed, and noone is particularely outraged about it either. That, and the only people killing anybody over it are the drug-runners, which doesn't exactly endear people to your cause. As for intimidation, about the only group I've seen working that angle with any degree of success has been the cartels, the response has been more along the lines of "Would you send in the Marines and kindly liberate our city?" than it has been "Perhapse if we're nice they'll go away."

[Blue_Nose]

[camerontech]

That's classic BN, I bring it up whenever I have the chance

also

Quote:

"Marc Emery has also gone to jail protesting many other laws such as the 'no shopping on Sunday' law in Ontario, and other Libertarian issues. He has run about 10 times for political positions.

since when can't I shop on Sundays?

[fire_i]

Hahaha, Blue_Nose! Remember when I said you were made out of win? Well that's why.

[WBenson]

It's a good thing he didn't try doing it in Singapore.

[CanadianJeff]

Frankly we have enough drunk people roaming the streets sometimes. I've two cases where I lived on the other side of town of drunk people banging on my door at 2am.

Yes I'm smoked pot and yes I fully realize that it pretty much makes you really hungry and really really mellow. It's not a bad feeling and I can see why people like the drug. Personally I got the weirdest cheese cravings when I was on the stuff but I digress.

However under no circumstance will I ever support the legalization of the drug becuase I understand from personal experience just how much it can slow down and screw up a persons thinking. Paranoia and reaction time are the two biggest deals. People on pot should not be allowed to operate a motor vechicle, smoke pot near children or frankly be in public at all.

If it's illegal to be drunk in public it should be illegal to be high in pulbic. So why even have that issue when it's so conviently already kept off the streets a fair deal by being illegal.

Frankly if we legalize it we are either going to have to induce a ton of rules to ensure safe driving and healthy lungs for all or we can just not go there and keep the same apparent "Problems" we have now with the subject.

Thanks I'll stick to the lesser evils.

edit: I would like to note I've been off the stuff for a year and a half now and in that time I've started univeristy and generally improved my life. So spare me the speal please. At this point I could give a better one then I've ever heard.

[Murray_Smith]

As someone who could be classified as a "stoner," I must dispense my opinions.

CanadianJeff wrote:

However under no circumstance will I ever support the legalization of the drug becuase I understand from personal experience just how much it can slow down and screw up a persons thinking.

That's a double standard. Alcohol messes with your head just as much as, if not more than, pot.

Quote:

Paranoia and reaction time are the two biggest deals. People on pot should not be allowed ... be in public at all. If it's illegal to be drunk in public it should be illegal to be high in pulbic.

Being high is different from being drunk. I don't think I've ever heard of a belligerent stoner.

Quote:

So why even have that issue when it's so conviently already kept off the streets a fair deal by being illegal.

Frankly if we legalize it we are either going to have to induce a ton of rules to ensure safe driving and healthy lungs for all or we can just not go there and keep the same apparent "Problems" we have now with the subject.

That's an idiotic argument. By your logic, we should ban cars and guns, since regulating them is so much damn trouble. I say put your tax dollars to work. It really won't be that hard to pass regulatory laws, especially if a little common sense is applied.

Quote:

edit: I would like to note I've been off the stuff for a year and a half now and in that time I've started univeristy and generally improved my life. So spare me the speal please. At this point I could give a better one then I've ever heard.

I've been smoking on and off for over a year, and I've gotten straight A's in all my classes except for a B+ in English. I've been majoring in Mathematics since October of last year, and have aced three math (1 trig, 2 calculus) classes in that time. I'm currently doing well in my third calculus class. I've also been working part-time for over a year and a half. I'd say I'm doing okay.

Edit: Also, if I get caught, I get caught. I'm not going to pretend to be a martyr.

[Psudo]

EmperorLiam wrote:

paisley_cross... breaking unjust laws is the only way to remove them, by challenging them in court. How did you manage to go this long without knowing that?

What part of civil disobedience says "Don't worry, you'll never end up in prison"? Even if it is civil disobedience to an unjust law, he can't expect the law itself to go away until it's overturned legislatively. In the meantime, unless you advocate anarchy, the unjust law needs to be enforced along with all the just laws.

How do you tell if you're breaking a just or an unjust law, anyway?

[paisley_cross]

Psudo wrote:

EmperorLiam wrote:

paisley_cross... breaking unjust laws is the only way to remove them, by challenging them in court. How did you manage to go this long without knowing that?

What part of civil disobedience says "Don't worry, you'll never end up in prison"? Even if it is civil disobedience to an unjust law, he can't expect the law itself to go away until it's overturned legislatively. In the meantime, unless you advocate anarchy, the unjust law needs to be enforced along with all the just laws.

How do you tell if you're breaking a just or an unjust law, anyway?

I have no time at all for this guy. He flaunted the law and got caught. He has plea bargained so his main interest is minimizing time. If he had the courage of his convictions he would go to the US and stand trial.

[EmperorLiam]

JJ: I frequent ICMAG.COM often, you can find my posts there, I am using their generalized opinions for the basis of my argument about what the anti-prohibition people think.

"Mr. Emery and his backers seem to think that he has a right to have the full force of the Canadian state rush to his defense"

Quite the opposite, the consensus is that the Canadian state is the one that asked the DEA to go after Emery, Stephen Harpers government specifically (they also shut down OVERGROW.COM). So you are mistaken JJ.



"Emery should face the consequences of breaking the law, and become a martyr for his cause"

Like I already said, to change the laws you first have to break them and then challenge them in court, this is how they succeeded in Amsterdam to decriminalize. He wants to be a martyr for his cause, that is obvious. This is not his first time going to jail, he spent 3 months in jail for passing a joint, the judge even stated that he was being given an EXTRA harsh sentence because of his high profile case.

Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek and Gregory Keith Williams were also asked to be extradited. Michelle is a legal medical marijuana patient, she would be denied her medication in the US, and would die in jail (shes old and sick, duh).

Jack Layton: "We believe it is wrong to extradite our citizens for an offence that would not - and, in this case, did not - result in them being charged in Canada."

Canada has often refused extradition, do not pretend that extradition is a run-of-the-mill event. We already have a standard practice of refusing to extradite anyone that might receive a death penalty.



Voyager: "the only people killing anybody over it are the drug-runners, which doesn't exactly endear people to your cause"

CATO institute disagrees:
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/



Camerontech: "since when can't I shop on Sundays?"

Ignorance of the law is not a defense in Canada:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._v._Edwa ... nd_Art_Ltd.


CanadianJeff:
"I understand from personal experience just how much it can slow down and screw up a persons thinking. Paranoia and reaction time are the two biggest deals. People on pot should not be allowed to operate a motor vechicle, smoke pot near children or frankly be in public at all."

Are you a scientist researching the effects of marijuana? Because they disagree with you. Marinol is the pill form of THC, it is available in the US. Marijuana has been proven to not significantly decrease a drivers ability to drive safely, while cellphones and talking to passenger were found to be far more dangerous.

Marijuana doesn't make you react slow, peoples reaction rates have been proven to not decrease significantly when high. What you are doing, is mistaking decreased short term memory and increased interest in mundane shit, for slowness. Stoners slam on the breaks just as fast as sober people. HOWEVER, the indica strain of marijuana has a lot of CDB, if you are already a little tired, it will cause you to become even more tired and sleepy, preying on your bodies natural mechanisms to help you sleep. Sleep itself is a natural drug induced process. Being tired and driving is just as bad as being drunk.

I suggest you try a sativa strain before deciding to never smoke/consume weed. You won't get 'couch lock', or feel tired. Understand that the variety of strains, and each persons unique genes, can result in highly variable results. Keep in mind I am referring to generalities, I do know one person that becomes completely delirious when high, and if you smoke a lot, you probably will fall asleep.



"He has plea bargained so his main interest is minimizing time. If he had the courage of his convictions he would go to the US and stand trial."

Supposidely he plea bargained so that his two co-accused could go free. Extradition would mean he would be held in an American jail for years while he awaited for the court process to finish. Cases like this take around 7 years to go through the court system in the US.


Psudo: "the unjust law needs to be enforced along with all the just laws. "

Many laws, old and new, are not enforced, why should police resources be wasted enforcing all these laws? Police already barely bother marijuana users, especially in BC, and they especially don't/haven't gone after seed sellers.


Regarding extradition
Should I be put to death in Saudia Arabia for being an apostate of Islam? They legally can request for my extradition, which is why my real name isn't attached to any of my anti-muslim literature; on advice from my lawyer.