No Extradition for the BC3

Keep Canadians in Canada!
Call the Justice Minister and demand he refuse extradition!
(613) 957-4222

www.NoExtradition.net

Please, help save Canadian cannabis activists from extradition to the US and life in US prison for peaceful, non-violent activities in Canada.

Call the Justice Minister of Canada and leave a message saying he should not commit Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, or Greg Williams to extradition to the USA, a country none of them have been to or committed crimes in!

Michelle Rainey, Marc Emery, Greg Williams

Canadians Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams are fighting extradition to the USA. The Canadian Government decided to not go along with the plea deal even though the USA and Marc Emery were in agreement, so the extradition hearing has been rescheduled. Emery, Rainey and Williams (collectively known as the BC3) appeared in the BC Supreme Court on April 9th and set dates for the extradition hearing. The extradition hearing will begin at the BC Supreme Court on December 1-5, 2008 with another week scheduled for February 9-17, 2009. See the No Extradition forum in the CC Forums for more information and discussion, and promote www.NoExtradition.net!

Who are "the BC3"?

Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams are Canadian citizens who were heavily involved in Canadian and American anti-prohibition activism for over ten years, though they remained in Canada at all times. The US Justice Department wants to have the BC3 extradited to the USA to be charged with conspiracy to produce marijuana, conspiracy to traffic marijuana, and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime. However, "Marc Emery Direct Seeds" was a marijuana seed business; the BC3 never sold any marijuana. The DEA even went undercover and tried to buy ten pounds from Marc Emery, but he gave them a lecture about how he sold seeds -- not pot -- and told the female undercover agent she was "stupid to ask me to sell marijuana, because I've never done it before, and I assume I'm always monitored by law enforcement"!

Marc Emery sold marijuana seeds in a store in downtown Vancouver BC and through the mail for over ten years. Numerous other seed selling businesses do the very same every day. Marc had no business outlets in the USA, and never went to the USA to conduct seed transactions. Everything was done openly and transparently; Marc is a media magnet and explained how he did it all. He spent the proceeds from all sales on ending the drug war: he financed numerous ballot initiatives, election campaigns, court challenges, medical user legal fees, conferences, events, and more in Canada, the USA, and all over the world. That's what his mission was, and he even ran in elections five times as a seed seller, gaining many votes and endless media coverage.

Because Marc Emery was so successful in fighting against the US-led War on Drugs, the powers in America decided to shut him up. The United States Justice Department and DEA had Canadian police help execute a raid and arrests for extradition of three political activists -- Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams -- to face 10 years up to life in US prison.

Please phone (613) 957-4222 to tell the Canadian Minister of Justice it would be "cruel and unjust", and an insult to Canada's sovereignty, to extradite Canadians Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams to the United States to face life in US prison. If Canadians have broken the law in Canada, they should be given a fair jury trial in Canada. If they won't face any severe imprisonment in Canada for the charges laid, they should not be extradited to another country to face possible life imprisonment.

- In Canada, there are two precedents for selling marijuana seeds:

1) In the year case R. v. Hunter in the year 2000, the BC Court of Appeals found that a $200 fine, not jail time, is the appropriate punishment for selling seeds. Read that decision here.

2) On March 7th, 2008, the BC Appeals Court released a decision that the punishment for selling cannabis seeds should not be more severe than one month in prison and one year of probation, the punishment handed to a marijuana seed retailer in BC who was selling to Americans. Read that story here.

- Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams never went to the United States. The seed business, "Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds", was Canadian-based. There were no US offices or employees, and only regular mail was used for mail-orders.

- According to a 2005 survey done by the Strategic Counsel & Angus Reid Polling, 58% of Canadians oppose extradition in this case. In the years since, public opposition to extradition has only grown, with national newspaper editorials, local news columnists, and even Members of Canada's Parliament all urging the Justice Minister to refuse extradition in this case.

- Marc Emery paid Income Tax to Revenue Canada and Revenue BC on all of his income generated from his seed business. He paid more than $500,000 in taxes between 1999 to 2005, and put his occupation on the income tax declarations as "marijuana seed vendor".

- Marc Emery's magazine "Cannabis Culture" was sent to every Member of Parliament for over 12 years, and still is today. Every issue of Cannabis Culture up to #57 (the issue printed on the very same day as the raid, July 29th, 2005) included the entire seed catalogue in it, so Parliament knew about the business.

- Health Canada, when it first began licensing medical marijuana users, recommended to Members of Parliament and licensed users that new cannabis growers should purchase seeds online from Canadian seed sellers such as Marc Emery Direct. Svend Robinson, the New Democratic Party Health Critic in Canadian Parliament, will testify to that fact.

- Marc Emery brought a capitalist approach to the marijuana legalization movement by starting "radical retail" outlets such as Hemp BC, and got politically involved by helping organize the Canadian Marijuana Party and creating the BC Marijuana Party, the latter which he still leads today.

- Marc Emery created his seed business with the purpose of using the profits to fund the cannabis movement worldwide. Through the sale of cannabis seeds, Marc was able to finance numerous drug law reform groups and events around the world, mostly in Canada and the United States. He funded global rally/march promotion, political parties, American and Canadian ballot initiatives, election campaigns, lobbying groups, conferences, drug rehab clinics, class action lawsuits, protests, patient bills and bail fees, and more. In total, the profit from the business contributed $4,000,000 to various activities and organizations.

Please Donate or Buy a "No Extradition" T-Shirt at the CC Store!

Download the 2-sided "No Extradition" handout! *UPDATED August 2007

Download the "No Extradition" Petition!

Download a high-resolution PDF of the "No Extradition" logo!

Want updates and discussion? Go to the CC "No Extradition" forum!

Watch the "DEA Raid Emery Seeds" collection of news clips YouTube.com

Five Things You Can Do to Help Save the BC3 from Extradition to the USA

Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams (the BC3) are Canadian citizens who were heavily involved in anti-prohibition activism in Canada for more than ten years. The United States is attempting to extradite these Canadian cannabis activists to the a country they've never been to and stand trial to face up to life in US federal prison. This is an insult to Canadian sovereignty and citizens' rights.

Here are five things that anyone can do to help prevent the BC3 from being extradited. Please take action and urge everyone you know to do the same.

1) Contact the Canadian Justice Minister Constantly!

Canada's Justice Minister is currently Robert Nicholson of the Conservative Party. It is largely his decision whether Canada will extradite the BC3, and that decision could come in the next few months or years. No matter where you are in the world, please contact the Justice Minister every week - we definitely need consistent vocal and written support from Canadians, Americans and the international community. Weekly phone calls, faxes, and handwritten letters that are polite and concise are effective political pressure.

The goal is to keep the Justice Department aware of the BC3 and the opposition to the extradition. Always be very polite, and say it would "shock your conscience" for Canadians to be extradited to the United States, a country they never went to, especially when the alleged crimes would not receive a jail sentence in Canada - and, if they have broken the law in Canada, they should be tried in Canada. When sending a letter, ask for a response from the Justice Minister.

Phone: (613) 957-4222
Fax: (613) 990-7255

Mailing Address:
The Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0H8

2) Contact The Media

Please contact the following newspapers with a new letter every week, or every month. Send a short letter under 200 words that offers quick facts about the American efforts to extradite the BC3, why you oppose it, and why others should too. Don't send mass emails to all of the media, but email each individually. Write different letters about the same topic, or respond to an article that relates to the extradition battle. A number of Canadian newspaper emails are listed here, but a complete list of media outlets is available thanks to the Media Awareness Project at www.mapinc.org/resource/email.html

National Post: letters@nationalpost.com

Globe & Mail: letters@globeandmail.ca

Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com

Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com

Victoria Times Colonist: letters@tc.canwest.com

Vancouver Courier: editor@vancourier.com

Burnaby Now: editorial@burnabynow.com

Calgary Herald: letters@theherald.canwest.com

Calgary Sun: callet@calgarysun.com

Edmonton Journal: letters@thejournal.canwest.com

Edmonton Sun: mailbag@edm.sunpub.com

Regina Leader-Post: letters@leaderpost.canwest.com

Hamilton Spectator: letters@thespec.com

Kamloops this week: ktw@bcnewsgroup.com

Kamloops Daily News: kamloopsnews@telus.net

Kelowna Capital News: edit@kelownacapnews.com

Langley Advance: editorial@langleyadvance.com

Langley Times: newsroom@langleytimes.com

Lethbridge Herald: letters@ac403.com

London Free Press: letters@lfpress.com

Montreal Gazette: letters@thegazette.canwest.com

Ottawa Citizen: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com

Ottawa Sun: oped@ott.sunpub.com

Saskatoon Star Phoenix: spnews@sp.canwest.com

Toronto Sun: editor@tor.sunpub.com

Victoria News: vicnews@vinewsgroup.com

Whitehorse Star: letters@whitehorsestar.com

Winnipeg Free Press: letters@freepress.mb.com a>

Winnipeg Sun: editor@wpgsun.com

Windsor Star: letters@thestar.canwest.com

3) Contact your Member of Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly

If you are in Canada, then contact both your MP and your MLA by phone, mail, and email. Try to make an appointment for a personal visit for even more impact. Ask your representative to voice public opposition to the extradition requests. Tell your MP and MLA that Canada should not be sending Canadian activists to face life imprisonment in foreign countries when the accused persons never went to the requesting country and the accused crimes are not considered to be a jail-worthy offence in Canada. Remind them that the Canadian Government knowingly collected taxes from Marc Emery's seed sale income for a decade, and that Marc Emery is the leader of a legitimate political party, operated business openly and honestly, dealt only with consenting adults, caused no harm, kept no weapons or drugs, and once received a monetary fine for selling cannabis seeds in Canada - not prison, which the US seeks. Find your MLA at the following websites and your MP at www.parl.gc.ca.

BC: www.leg.bc.ca/mla

Alberta: www.assembly.ab.ca

Saskatchewan: www.legassembly.sk.cas

Manitoba: www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/members

ON: electionsontario.on.ca/fyed/en/form_page_en.jsp

Quebec: www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/membres/index.html

Newfoundland: www.hoa.gov.nl.ca/hoa/members

Nova Scotia: www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/members

PEI: www.assembly.pe.ca/members/index.php

NB: app.infoaa.7700.gnb.ca/gnb/pub/listmla1.asp

4) Donate Or Make Purchases

Marc, Michelle and Greg are accumulating expensive legal bills in order to fight the extradition. They are still determined to help the movement by spreading awareness about the drug war through the BC Marijuana Party, Cannabis Culture Magazine, Pot.tv, and the CCHQ store as always, but need legal fee support in this trying time. Please consider donating to or buying from the BC Marijuana Party (www.bcmarijuanaparty.com), Cannabis Culture Magazine (www.cannabisculture.com/newstore), or Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters store (307 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, 604-682-1172).

5) Rally in your community

If you are in Canada, then try to put on a rally in your community to protest this incursion of the US Drug War into Canada. The focus of your rally should be that Canadians within Canada are not subject to US law and should not be extradited. US consulate offices are a good place to rally at, as are Canadian government buildings, and even parks and downtown areas. Please contact us at the BC Marijuana Party and Cannabis Culture Magazine to let us know what you are up to, and we can help promote your event. Use your rally to demonstrate that Canadian courts have decided selling marijuana seeds is a trivial offence that nets a fine, not prison time, and the Canadian government steadily collected sizable taxes from Marc Emery's seed sales for over 10 years. If Emery has broken the law in Canada then he should be charged and tried in Canada. If he has not broken laws in Canada then he should absolutely not be extradited to the US for a life sentence in US prison.

Send any mail to “No Extradition” 307 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, V6B 1H6, Canada