Prince of Pot plans advocacy tour after release
Marc Emery, the poster child for marijuana legalization, will be released from a U.S. prison Wednesday, and sometime in August, the self-styled Prince of Pot will be back in Canada to smoke his first joint since 2010.
Emery has spent most of his time in a federal prison in Yazoo City, Miss., sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana (he ran a seed-selling business in Vancouver). His last official day in custody is July 9, but his deportation back to Canada will take several weeks.
A lot has changed in the debate over marijuana prohibition in the intervening years. Two U.S. states are now issuing recreational pot licences; medical growers are reaping profits; and investors are exploring opportunities.
When Emery was first arrested almost a decade ago, the Drug Enforcement Agency heralded his seizure as a “significant blow” to the legalization movement. On Monday, Washington state distributed for the first time licences to 24 shopkeepers who will hawk legal marijuana, while New York simultaneously became the 23rd U.S. state to authorize pot as medicinal treatment.
In Canada, federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has said he favours legalization. If he were to become prime minister, he would bring Emery’s lifelong dream within reach.
Now 56, Emery calls the 2015 federal election “pivotal” and has vowed to travel the country in support of the Liberals with his wife Jodie, also a prominent activist against prohibition.
Even the Conservative government, which oversaw his extradition south, has softened its tune on pot. After bringing in more punitive drug laws in 2010, Justice Minister Peter MacKay now says the government is working on legislation that could make possession of small amounts of pot an offence punishable by fine, not jail.
But Emery says his lifelong fight for legalization is not over. “I’ve been a spokesperson, a radical, an activist since 1980,” he told Canada. com via email from Yazoo. “It’s what I do well. I’ve run for office 12 times since 1979. I’ve been in retail since 1971. I enjoy meeting the public, I like public speaking, I have a unique place in Canadian history and the mission remains tantalizingly close to being accomplished, but we aren’t there yet.”
The Emerys plan a 30-city, cross-Canada advocacy tour, as well as speaking engagements and meetings with officials in Spain, Austria, Ireland and Uruguay.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Prince of Pot says he hasn’t missed getting high while in prison. Unannounced urine tests mean he hasn’t dared smoke anything even when it was available, lest it cost him early release for good conduct. But he will take up his old hobby as soon as he gets back to Canada. “I will be consuming cannabis at the same enthusiastic rate in Canada, and in the same exhibitionistic way, as I did in my peak years,” he said.
The Emerys won’t sit on the political sidelines in 2015. Jodie says she may seek the Liberal nomination in the riding of Vancouver East, where the couple’s seed store is located, and Marc plans to campaign for the Liberals across the country, even if it “might make Mr. Trudeau a bit nervous.”
“I am easily the most recognized marijuana legalization activist in the world,” Emery said. “I have to make good use of my reputation in the cannabis culture, and no job is more important than defeating prohibitionist regimes, and electing governments committed to the liberty of our people.”
His estimated return to Canada is between Aug. 10 and 25.