I was walking around Toronto yesterday and I came across a bunch of new graffiti stencils that said, "Free Mark Emery" with a weed leaf beside it. So I thought I'd bring up this 'hot' topic. For those of you who don't know, Mark Emery AKA the Prince of Pot is a Canadian who was tried in the States for illegal distribution of a controlled substance to American citizens. Basically, an international drug dealer. But in reality, Mark Emery runs a website that sells marijuana SEEDS. Not the actual plant, or even the finished product; the seeds. Well, following the advice of his lawyers, Mark Emery is now serving a 5 year sentence and has been deported to the United States. Mark Emery is no stranger to controversy and has even been to jail before (for opening his store on Sundays back in the late 80's), but I honestly believe that he does not deserve to be there. First off, you should know that the Prince's seed selling business was up and running for 10 YEARS before it was shut down by a Vancouver Police raid. Prior to this, Mark Emery had no qualms about his business and even invited Canadian authorities into his shop to arrest him, in which they didn't. It was not until the United States Drug Enforcement Administration urged the Vancouver police to shut him down. They were complaining that his seeds were being sold to U.S. citizens and, as we all know, U.S. laws concerning marijuana are severe and unfair.
Being a Canadian, I find this pretty unsettling. On the most part, I agree with Mr. Mackey; Drugs ARE bad, and they can really interfere negatively with a person's life. But not ALL drugs are bad. In fact, some drugs are very good and weed is one of them. To me, there's not much you can say to convince me that weed is illegal for a good reason. I mean, if it was a purely recreational drug then I would feel different, but it's not! Aside from being super fun it has a lot of healthy benefits, especially when used as a pain killer. But the rep behind weed has become so poisonous that I don't think it will ever be fully accepted the way it should be; like alcohol. People have dealt with weed much like a child deals with being banned from a toy- they're gonna go out of their way to play with it. And alot of people argue it's a waste of time and it makes people lazy when really that's a load of bullocks. It doesn't make me lazy, and the guy who developed CNN smoked weed EVERYDAY. And just like some people like to have a coffee every morning or a drink after work - I like a bong hit. Does this make me a dangerous person? I'm not someone who hangs around on street corners asking people for a fix, nor am I a stupid couch potato. I pay my bills, work full-time, keep informed with the news and am very intelligent and well-read - and I smoke weed but I'm not a...criminal? And yet if I lived in the States I believe I would have been to jail already at least once, and my dreams of going to school or getting a good career would basically be ruined. I really don't find this fair! What if every time you went to the bar, the police were outside ready to arrest you for having a drink with your friends? Do you feel like your doing something criminal when you go out on weekends? If you've ever taken an Advil in your life - there, you've already done a drug worse than weed. Feeling dangerous? And I find it ridiculous that they place such a huge ban on a plant you can grow in your backyard. Just the fact that the States has celebrities talking about how much they blaze in interviews, and releasing any Judd Apatow movie into their American theatres while they're still arresting kids for possessing drug paraphernalia just shows how completely backwards that country is. It's almost unbelievable that they are even connected to a country like Canada. And I think that it really puts Canadians down. We are more known for actually caring for our citizens and are known to the world as one of the top countries for human rights, but anytime that Canada does something unfair and uncharacteristic, it's because of the States. Even the fact the weed is not legalized is because of the negative influence of the States. And look at the upcoming G20 summit. Before, Canada planned to discuss and support abortion but due to the States urges, it's been totally erased from being discussed at all. And now they are trying to make our health care more like the U.S.'s. What do you think? Do you think the States is keeping us crazy Canucks in line, or are they weighing us down? (I'm for the latter.) I personally think we should look to the East's examples and never look south again.
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