FINDLAY, OH -What the hell… An individual who consensually provided goods to others, aggressing upon no one’s rights, will likely spend the next half decade in a cage. The individual is none other than Marc Emery, an entrepreneur and marijuana activist who didn’t break any dictates issued from the Canadian gang that claims authority over him.
Emery was in business selling cannabis seeds. And he was successful, purported raking in around $3 million per year. The money he earned was his property to use as he saw fit – to save, spend, burn, give away, whatever. Yet, because he chose to give some of it to pro-marijuana legalization causes he drew the attention of the biggest gang in the world – the U.S. government. And even though he didn’t live in their “jurisdiction”, they leaned on their Canadian buddies to arrest and extradite him.
This happened in 2005 and after a number of legal back-and-forths and potential deals, Emery agreed to plead guilty to one charge of drug distribution so long as the threats against two of his colleagues by the U.S. gang ceased. Yesterday Emery said goodbye to a number of friends and supporters, kissed his wife Jodie goodbye and walked into custody of the gang.
And for what?
I’ll tell you. Because he threatened the Statist Quo – the continuation of drug prohibition, terrible policies that have caused the deaths of thousands of our neighbors (both here and abroad) and the loss of freedom of millions more (the U.S. gang puts more people it claims authority over behind bars in absolute number and by percent than any other gang. And it steals billions of dollars of rightly-acquired property via asset forfeiture).
Simply put – the U.S. gang profits from drug prohibition and Emery was a threat. This is crystal clear per an Emery-related press release issued by the DEA on July 29, 2005 which states:
The tentacles of the Mark Emery criminal enterprise reached out across North America to include all 50 United States and Canada . . . Mr. Emery utilized the internet to sell his marijuana seeds throughout this country to customers no matter their age. He directed his business with efficiency, was motivated by greed, and will now be prosecuted for this illegal activity.
As filled with misinformation as that press release was, a shorter statement (which curiously no longer appears on their website though Emery’s CannabisCulture.com has a copy posted) released by Karen Tandy, then-head of the DEA, specifically noted that Emery’s arrest is “a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement” (emphasis mine). While the first-half of Tandy’s statement is false (since Emery sold only seeds) the second-half shows the motivation of Tandy and her ilk – to use any means necessary to hold onto their supposed power. In fact, the press release concluded, “Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.”
And while Emery and most of his supporters are advocating that folks call the Canadian Justice Minister and tell Conservative members of the Canadian gang that they’re not happy, I don’t think that is the best long-term strategy. Instead we need to educate ourselves and others that no one else has authority over us. That we are free to engage in any activities so long as they don’t aggress upon the rights of another. So that when thugs bark commands no one listens. So that they realize that they have no special rights or powers due simply to their title or badge.
On a more personal note, I was able to cross paths with Emery at the Liberty Summer Seminar up in Orono, ON back in the summer of 2008. I was impressed by his gung-ho attitude and his willingness to help others out – he not only gave me a small donation for the non-profit at which I then worked but he hooked us up with a full page ad in his magazine. My thoughts are with you Marc.
For more:
- Watch The Philosophy of Liberty – a must-see video to fully grasp the concept of self-ownership.
- Listen to Emery’s interviews on Free Talk Live by Mark Edge and Ian Freeman
- Join the Free Marc Emery Now!!!! group on Facebook to stay in the loop and network with like-minded marijuana activists
- Check out Emery’s brief segment at 0:50 in this video filmed at the Institute for Liberal Studies‘ Liberty Summer Seminar
