Pubdate: Tue, 19 Nov 2013
Source: Intelligencer, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013, The Belleville Intelligencer
Contact: http://www.intelligencer.ca/letters
Website: http://www.intelligencer.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2332
Author: Alan Coxwell

KNOCK ON MR. BLANEY'S DOOR

DEAR EDITOR:

Libby Davies of the NDP, former Solicitor General Wayne Easter of the 
Liberals and Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, 
stood beside Jodie Emery during a press conference on Parliament Hill 
last week.

All passionately addressed their remarks to Stephen Harper's new 
Minister of Public Safety, Mr. Steven Blaney. They were collectively 
pleading for Blaney's signature on documents, already signed by the 
Justice Department in the United States of America, which would allow 
Jodie's husband, Marc Emery, to be released from Mississippi's Yazoo 
Prison so he can serve the remainder of his five-year prison sentence 
closer to his wife and family here in Canada. There is no question 
about the fact Marc Emery is a political prisoner.

Former Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, now our Defence Minister, 
signed the extradition papers because Harper's government wanted Marc 
Emery to quit funding and speaking about the legalization of 
marijuana. Marc never sold any marijuana. He never trafficked drugs. 
He paid Revenue Canada over $580,000 in taxes on the cannabis seeds 
he sold which is a legal activity because there is no active drug in 
the seeds. He gave around $4 million in profits from his various 
businesses to the pro-legalization movement in the United States and 
around the world.

This is why American and Canadian authorities wanted him silenced. 
Marc is a fearless, powerful voice exposing the stupidity and cruelty 
of Nixon's "War on Drugs" and so with Harper's help the Americans 
imprisoned him.

In the following statement the US Drug Enforcement Administration 
(DEA) admitted on the day of Marc Emery's arrest ( July 29th, 2005) 
that his investigation and extradition were politically motivated, 
designed to target the Marijuana Legalization organization that Emery 
spearheaded and ran for over a decade in Canada.

Here is the original text of DEA Administrator Karen Tandy's 
statement released on July 29th, 2005:

"Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis 
Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group - 
is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in 
the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement.

His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have 
generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his 
trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known 
to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the 
United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one 
less pot of money to rely on."

Any Canadian who takes a few minutes to understand the details of 
this case should be very ashamed by what our Canadian government has 
allowed this Canadian citizen to endure for the past four years. If 
our Prince Edward-Hastings MP Daryl Kramp had any sense of justice he 
would also have been standing beside Jodie Emery asking for Blaney's 
signature on her behalf. In the name of justice and compassion Mr. 
Kramp should be knocking on Mr. Blaney's office door, forcefully 
requesting his signature to allow this Canadian citizen to be 
returned to Canada.

Sincerely,

ALAN COXWELL STIRLING, ONTARIO
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