In light of the recent plea deal between lawyers for Marc Emery, Canada’s preeminent marijuana activist, and the US government that wants him in prison for selling pot seeds over the Internet to the United States, it’s worth asking—has anyone been harmed by Mr Emery’s actions?

The answer is no. While his tireless self-promotion can be annoying and smacks of excessive egotism, in the end Emery’s actions have been right. Marijuana may cause some people to eat junk food, laugh at bad jokes, and take and inexplicable interest in their shoe laces, but it is also a drug that has legitimate medicinal purposes, on both sides of the border. Canada’s government and medical authorities have acknowledged this; the American federal government has not.

The drug is beneficial for many afflictions, so for Mr Emery to try to spread the benefits of a recognized medicine to American patients was a noble cause.

Medical marijuana is illegal under federal law in the United States. While it has gained the support of voters in a number of American states and municipalities, the fact remains that the valuable treatment it provides is being denied to Americans by their leaders at the national level. In the truest spirit of North American friendship, Emery’s actions as a seed supplier, for which he is currently wanted by the US government, were a way to help out strangers in a neighboring country.

In selling seeds over the Internet, Emery did violate US law, but he didn’t do anything Canada was willing to prosecute him for. He was last convicted of a marijuana crime in Canada in 1998 (and got away with a $2000 fine), and has since been a scrupulous taxpayer, all with Parliament, Canada Post, and Revenue Canada’s full knowledge—and therefore our elected leaders should have thrown their support behind denying Mr Emery’s extradition. They knew what Emery was doing; he mailed his catalogue to every single MP for eight years in a row. Government coffers benefited from the taxes seed-selling business.

While this doesn’t mean Emery had state approval, the feds in Ottawa should do more to resist the American extradition request. It’s high time that Canada acknowledge the societal benefits that Mr Emery has provided to both sides of the border.

—Levi Barnett is the Ubyssey’s Copy, Letters, and Research editor

004 H.U.M.A.N.: Hemp Users Medical Access Network - Toronto Medical Marijuana