Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2012
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Ian Mulgrew
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)

'PRINCE OF POT' SEES LEGALIZATION ON HORIZON

It tasted like vindication to B. C.' s Marc Emery, the prince of pot 
and a clarion voice for 20 years in the debate over legalizing marijuana.

Voters in Colorado and Washington state decided Tuesday to create new 
legal regulatory regimes for cannabis that allow personal possession 
for those over 21 starting next month, and envision production and 
retail outlets in a year or so.

Emery, who helped finance the crusade to Free the Weed for roughly 15 
years, couldn't have asked for more.

"This is the greatest achievement in 75 years of fighting to repeal 
the marijuana prohibition," he said in an email from the Mississippi 
penitentiary where he is serving five years for selling mail-order 
pot seeds from Vancouver.

"This will make my remaining 609 days in this U. S. federal prison a 
gentler cross to bear."

In Emery's view, the milestone wins will reverberate around the 
globe, especially in B. C., where they will influence a marijuana 
advocacy group's campaign for a provincial referendum on the issue.

"The I- 502 campaign is a model for success that can be emulated 
elsewhere, and should be," he added.

While Emery was often surrounded by a smoky haze, those behind the 
New Approach Washington Coalition basked in their success late 
Tuesday night, sparking nary a joint.

Gregg Holcomb instead poured fine bourbons, premium tequila, 
champagne ... "Marijuana isn't the drug of choice among the 
organizers and sponsors," quipped the husband of I- 502 campaign 
director Alison Holcomb.

"I hear there's a heavy scent in the corridor down on the floor where 
some of the volunteers are partying."

Emery was untroubled by the difference in approaches.

"Former U. S. district attorney John McKay, who conducted the case 
that sent me to a U. S. prison ( in 2010) ... has redeemed himself in 
a glorious way by joining with me, my wife and Washington's elite 
anti-prohibitionists," Emery said.

McKay was one of several high-profile Washington figures who backed 
the initiative.

Another, Seattle lawyer Pete Holmes, said: "This is a common sense 
policy that addresses all the issues that government should be 
concerned with - public safety, access by minors - and tries at the 
same time to take the profits away from criminal cartels. I think 
most Americans recognize this is a smart approach and that 
prohibition has failed."

The initiative succeeded, he said, because of the tireless work of 
local travel guru Rick Steves, the organizational strength of 
Washington's American Civil Liberties Union, together with the 
support of the King County Bar Association and elected officials.

"We all collaborated to put together a comprehensive framework that 
just made sense," Holmes explained.

"This is not a pro-pot - it's treating a public health problem like a 
public health issue. We undermine law enforcement when we try to 
enforce an unenforceable law."

Steves, one of the campaign's public faces, agreed.

"Now the whole country is going to be looking at us with a lot of 
skepticism," he said.

"The onus is on us to implement this smart law responsibly. If we do, 
other states will see they can do it even if they want to tweak it in 
certain ways. This is the start of taking apart prohibition one state 
at a time."

Washington state thinks a hefty tax on pot will generate a half- 
billion in revenue and transform the black market.

It could have a profound effect on B. C.' s underground economy, too, 
with guerrilla growers perhaps facing new, stiffer American 
competition depending on developments.

Ben Schroeter, a Seattle pot retailer, wasn't so sure.

"I deal with one strain only and have been getting it from the same 
grower for like 23 years now," he said "I first sold pot in high 
school in 1974 ... California sensimilla for $ 6 a gram, $ 35 a quarter ounce."

The change won't affect that business, he said.

"My $35 eighths ($ 10 a gram) will likely be a bit less than the new 
stores ( will charge) should they actually be implemented," Schroeter 
explained.

"Most of my customers are doctors and lawyers and other professionals 
that I've dealt with for years. At least when I'm unavailable, now I 
will be able to tell them to go to the store!"

He predicted a crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries that have 
been profiting by operating as they do in B. C., illegally but rarely 
prosecuted.

They now will be forced to become part of the legal regime and pay 
taxes to survive.

Some of the strongest opposition to the initiatives came from members 
of the medical pot community fearing competition and stiffer impaired 
driving enforcement.

"Many dispensaries will go out of business," Schroeter predicted.

Regardless, both Washington state and Colorado are on a collision 
course with the U. S. federal government.

Washington, D. C., like Ottawa, continues to reject legalization.

"We are in a collision course with our federal government and many of 
us believe that crash is long overdue because the prohibition has 
just caused so much damage," said former Seattle police chief Norm 
Stamper, who speaks for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

The Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration 
have not yet said how they will respond to the votes.

"I'm not thinking about the federal government," Steves said.

"I'm thinking about our government, how we are going to do it in this 
state and I think if we do it smartly, I would be surprised if the 
feds would come in and blatantly overrule the state's will of the people."

Nevertheless, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposes 
legalization, warned: "Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal 
drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or goldfish too quickly."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom