NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/5115/The_Strange_Seedy_Case_of_Marc_Emery

i dont want to post it since it is a pretty long article, but this case not only questions the drug "war" in america, but also whether Canada has the balls to stand up for itself.

Very credible source... :rolleyes:

A little old this whole debacle(not sure how old, but I know I've seen this thing before), but still interesting.

Honestly, if I were Canada, I'd use this to show America that Canada is indeed an independant nation by fighting the US with everything I had to keep this guy in Canada. The US has pissed on Canada again and again, in politics, economics and even popular culture. I'd say it's time Canada stands up to the bully in the south.

Plus on a related note, this guy is a genius. This kind of tactic(selling seeds to make weed-users self sufficient thus making the DEA's job soooo much harder) could force a legalization. Which I wholeheartedly support. Off the top of my head I can think of like ten things the money pissed away on the War on Drugs could be used in. Let this damn crusade die already.

That particular source may not be entirely credible, but it appears to have gotten the gist of things.

The whole Mark Emery thing has gotten a lot of people up in arms the last little while. Just google "Mark Emery" and you'll find a whole long list of sources.

A little old this whole debacle(not sure how old, but I know I've seen this thing before), but still interesting.

Honestly, if I were Canada, I'd use this to show America that Canada is indeed an independant nation by fighting the US with everything I had to keep this guy in Canada. The US has pissed on Canada again and again, in politics, economics and even popular culture. I'd say it's time Canada stands up to the bully in the south.

Plus on a related note, this guy is a genius. This kind of tactic(selling seeds to make weed-users self sufficient thus making the DEA's job soooo much harder) could force a legalization. Which I wholeheartedly support. Off the top of my head I can think of like ten things the money pissed away on the War on Drugs could be used in. Let this damn crusade die already.

Hes taking a page out of the anti-prohibitionists book, except back then it was MUCH easier, since very little money was used to enforce it. Canada has the last say on wether or not to extradite him so if they man up, they could send a message.

I'm curious about the "balls to stand up four ourselves" comment.

This gentleman faces charges in the US for which a criminal code entry exists in Canada. By definition of the treaty this binds Canada to go through the extradition proceedings and probably cost this man his freedom, much as Canada would have similar rights were the situation reversed.

Did he use his proceeds to fund political issues?

Yes.

Did that colour the US decision to single him out?

Probably.


But the fact remains that he knowingly engaged in illegal activities in both countries and so is liable for prosecution. Had he refrained from selling in the US his actions would probably have never cost him what it will because of the softening stance against pot in Canada. But he elected to do so.

And while frankly I am in agreement that the penalties for marijuana are unneccessarily hash in many US jurisdictions - especially Federal - but that is besides the point. It's not like he didn't know what those penalties were, he just never thought he get nailed for it.


But hey, it's not like the Feds didn't get around California's medical marijuana laws by pulling the same sort of crap arresting people under Federal statutes after they had been given state blessing and nailing their asses to the wall....so this is hardly a surprising bit of news.


Personally, I think it would be nice if a Canadian jugdge looked at the possible sentance he is facing and says "fuck you", but Emery rolled the dice himself and may just have crapped out.

And I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it.


As to Canada's sovereignty that remains intact. He is NOT, after all, being extradited or charged for activities related to the sale of seeds within Canada, or having his domestic legal rights otherwise infringed upon. HE was the one who made it an international issue - no-one else.

I mean, what? Are you going to say that the US isn't sovereign because they have handed over people to Canadian authorities after they commited crimes up here? (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22extradited+to+canada%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fl=0&x=wrt)

No?

Didn't think so....

Wow, a post by Silliopolous that I agree with.

This is surely a sign of the Apocalypse

hear hear!!!

Wow, a post by Silliopolous that I agree with.

This is surely a sign of the Apocalypse


Sorry.

I'll try not to let it happen again..... :D

Very credible source... :rolleyes:
I know the story.

The guy's selling pot seeds, someone orders them in the states, he gets arrested because it's legal to sell them in Canada, but not in the states.

I'm not sure what the general laws are for such things, it's legal in one country but illegal in another. Though it is generally illegal to bring seeds accross the border anyways.

I think that the canadian government should protect this guy, but just this once. It should be easy enough for him to refuse to sell his seeds to future american customers, he'll just have to add a little disclaimer on his website.

the canadian goverment is very weak dealing with things like this.drugs,terrorism and our military are never mention that often in canadian politics.

the canadian goverment is very weak dealing with things like this.drugs,terrorism and our military are never mention that often in canadian politics.


Spoken like someone who pays no attention to Canadian politics....

Do we hype up a War on Drugs? No. Have there been significant changes to the criminal code and changes to police focus regarding grow ops? Absolutely. And has much discussion ensued regarding Canada's contributions in Afghanistan, with naval interdiction in the Persian Gulf, with the Arar issue and with other legislative changes since 9-11? Absolutely.


Just because we prefer to look for effective strategies instead of engaging in hyperbole doesn't mean that these are not priorities. And I would argue that the deficiencies recently showed up in the FEMA re-org since 9-11 was clearly indicitive of what can happen when you focus on single issues to the exclusion of others. Because the folding of FEMA into the DHS was done under the mandate of dealing almost exclusively with terrorrism to the detriment of disaster planning for natural occurances.

yes but canada's army and intelligence community is underfunded...our navy includes some frigates,destroyers and broken down subs...this is to guard the nation with the largest coastline in the world.That is unacceptible (trust me on that my father was in the army and then became a police officer)


We did not even go to afganistan with proper camo.



If we are to help in the war on terror then we need a better funded army and intelligence agency.

Honestly, if I were Canada, I'd use this to show America that Canada is indeed an independant nation by fighting the US with everything I had to keep this guy in Canada. The US has pissed on Canada again and again, in politics, economics and even popular culture. I'd say it's time Canada stands up to the bully in the south.

Dude, Canada is part French. Not happening. ;)

yes but canada's army and intelligence community is underfunded...our navy includes some frigates,destroyers and broken down subs...this is to guard the nation with the largest coastline in the world.


We did not even go to afganistan with proper camo.



If we are to help in the war on terror then we need a better funded army and intelligence agency.


Well that is another issue entirely, and one that I agree with you on many points as I am a firm advocate of a stronger military. But you were hinting that it was not an issue even up for discussion.

That being said, you neglect to mention the high points such as the home-built Coyote APC's which have proved outstanding and are now being sold internationally, the successes of JTF2, the recent commitment to purchasing $600 Million worth of Strykers, and hopefully - finally - the full replacement of the Sea Kings, as well as other budget increases to the RCMP and CSIS for exactly the reasons you state.

It's not ALL bad, but it could be a whole lot better I agree.

Well that is another issue entirely, and one that I agree with you on many points as I am a firm advocate of a stronger military. But you were hinting that it was not an issue even up for discussion.

That being said, you neglect to mention the high points such as the home-built Coyote APC's which have proved outstanding and are now being sold internationally, the successes of JTF2, the recent commitment to purchasing $600 Million worth of Strykers, and hopefully - finally - the full replacement of the Sea Kings, as well as other budget increases to the RCMP and CSIS for exactly the reasons you state.

It's not ALL bad, but it could be a whole lot better I agree.


yes that is good...it could be better and these improvemnts were needed 10 years ago...ohhhh well better late then never.

I think Canada shouldn't extradite Emery. When the US gets upset over this, Canada should use it as a barganning chip to get the US to live up to some of the agreements the US has failed to live up to (ie NAFTA).

As for military funding, I think we should be focusing on funding a more defencive army (IMO ours is balanced between offence and defence).

I think Canada shouldn't extradite Emery. When the US gets upset over this, Canada should use it as a barganning chip to get the US to live up to some of the agreements the US has failed to live up to (ie NAFTA).


Won't fly. The US would just spin it as blackmail, as Canada being soft on drugs, and - mor importantly - failing to live up to treaty obligations. That then goes a long way to excusing their also doing so.

Besides, if Canada decided to resist the deportation on principle then you stick to your damn principles. You don't bargain them like a cheap whore.


As for military funding, I think we should be focusing on funding a more defencive army (IMO ours is balanced between offence and defence).

Our military IS defensive! We don't have the heavy-lift capacity to make it anything else.... :p

But, jokes aside, there are few coutries out there likely to attempt to project military power into Canada for an invasion, and those that can (US, Russia, China in a few year) we aren't ever going to be able to take on anyway. We just don't have the available manpower.

However if we ARE going to remain involved on the world scene you either build and maintain the capability to deploy an effective fighting force of a certain size quickly around the world, or you pack your bags and go home and stop telling others what they should be doing.

~snipped to make me look like less of an ass~
Way to make me look like a jackass. You did make excellent points.

About the military, my main reason for thinking it was balanced was mainly the Army Recruiters that visit the school yearly. They only really talk about our offencive ability. They also seemed relatively clueless about our defencive capabilities.

Very credible source... :rolleyes:

What IS a credible source?

Way to make me look like a jackass. You did make excellent points.

About the military, my main reason for thinking it was balanced was mainly the Army Recruiters that visit the school yearly. They only really talk about our offencive ability. They also seemed relatively clueless about our defencive capabilities.


Sorry, didn't mean to be seeming to slam you.

As to the recruiters, I think they know that they are most likely to appeal to the adventurous types and so focus on that aspect. Perhaps they just realize that it's not as easy to sell people with slogans like:

"Sign up and freeze your ass off at Alert! Side bonus: all the caribou you can catch are yours to sleep with!"
or
"There's an exciting future scrubbing pans on a leaky sub for you!"


A good number of the jobs in the military are, after all, in support positions that are not as easy to market to people. Everyone wants to be a fighter pilot, ship's captain, JTF2 sniper, or some such - but the odds of them becoming that are slim.