On July 9th, 2014, Marc Emery, a Canadian politician, cannabis activist, publisher and distributor of cannabis seeds, was released from the federal correctional institution in Yazoo City, in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Emery was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in the U.S. for the online selling of cannabis seeds to American citizens.
Before the extradition to the U.S., Marc was known as the publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine and as the founder of Pot TV. He is also one of the initiators of the Freedom Party of Ontario, the Marijuana Party of Canada and the BC Marijuana Party. In 1996, 2002 and 2008 he participated in the elections for mayor of the city of Vancouver.
In 1994, Emery visited the High Times Cannabis Cup, where he was inspired to start his own seed company, partly because of an acquaintance with Sensi Seeds. Shortly after his return to Canada, he founded Hemp BC and with the profits he supported action groups, lobbyists, lawsuits and the development of legislative proposals. A year later, Hemp BC was on the cover of the Wall Street Journal, which led to a lot of media attention. This caused a series of raids and lawsuits, but never leaded to a serious conviction.
Until July 2005 however, when his company was closed on request of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA believed that Emery was a drug dealer who traded on U.S. territory and encouraged people to cultivate and use cannabis. The DEA wanted him extradited to the U.S., and they managed to succeed. In 2009 he was arrested and in 2010 he was extradited to the U.S. where he was sentenced to five years in prison. Because of good behavior, he has now been released after a little over four years of imprisonment.
By Martijn
Read the full story at sensiseeds.com
