Canadian police last month arrested Mark Emery, the leader of the nation's Marijuana Party, for selling marijuana seeds to American customers through his Vancouver-based mail order company. Some critics accuse Canadian police of doing the bidding of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Martin Kaste profiles Canada's "prince of pot."
ALEX CHADWICK, host: This is DAY TO DAY.  I'm Alex Chadwick.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: In Vancouver, Canada, Mark Emery is known as the `Prince of Pot,' a seed      distributor in a society that has not formally legalized marijuana but      does pretty much ignore its use.  OK for Canadians, but Mr. Emery has      customers in this country, too.  And now US authorities want him      extradited and tried and put in jail for maybe the rest of his life.      Many Canadians see it as a case of Washington trying to export the war on      drugs.  NPR's Martin Kaste reports.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Unidentified Woman:  Here we go.  A-two, a-one, two, three...</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: MARTIN KASTE reporting:</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: A jazz singer, young women dressed in fairy costumes, and about 50 people      smoking giant marijuana joints.  This laid-back scene on the front steps      of a Vancouver art gallery is the British Columbia Marijuana Party's idea      of a political protest.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Unidentified Man #1:  Get your ...(Unintelligible) on.  Pass that big      fatty around.</s>KASTE: As the smoke gets thicker, a couple of Vancouver policemen ride      by on their bikes and pretend not to notice.  Pot is still illegal in      Canada, but in liberal cities such as Vancouver, the ban is rarely      enforced.  The country as a whole is becoming more lenient toward      marijuana.  Parliament is seriously considering decriminalizing      possession of small amounts.  And the pot smokers at this protest give      Mark Emery much of the credit.</s>KASTE: Unidentified Man #2:  ...Mark Emery for turning us all into princes and      princesses of pot.</s>KASTE: A party activist in a jester's hat ceremonially hands Emery a lit      joint.  Emery is a short man and kind of nerdy compared to his scruffy      fans, a sort of Bill Gates for Vancouver's booming marijuana industry.  A      former bookseller, Emery started out in the 1990s by successfully      challenging restrictions on the sale of marijuana-themed books and      magazines.  He then moved on to seeds.  He readily admits he's sold      millions.  But he says he's not in it for the profit.</s>Mr. MARK EMERY (Seed Distributor): The idea was in 1994 we'd sell seeds      and then we would use the proceeds of that to fund peaceful democratic      revolution in a sense.  `Overgrowing the government' was our slogan, that      through peaceful botanical revolution we'd empower the marijuana people      and then with the money we received from them, we would empower them on      the political sphere and in the judicial sphere, in the ideological      sphere.</s>KASTE: At first, the Canadian police raided his business on a regular      basis, but the courts never did more than impose modest fines.  And for      the last few years, the Canadian authorities have left him alone--until      this summer, when they suddenly raided his seed business at the behest of      the US Drug Enforcement Administration.  Conservative Canadians such as      Gary Abbott(ph) are glad to see the Americans getting involved.</s>Mr. GARY ABBOTT (Canadian): I'd just as soon see you people get him, and      then we'd be rid of him for a while.</s>KASTE: Abbott and his wife are out strolling in downtown Vancouver, and      they walk a wide circle to avoid Emery and the other marijuana partisans      out in front of the art gallery.</s>Mr. GARY ABBOTT (Canadian): To the average citizen, he's a nuisance.</s>KASTE: Really?</s>Mr. GARY ABBOTT (Canadian): I mean, we spent more money on him from fighting in the      courts than he's worth.</s>KASTE: Abbott says he approves of the more severe prison term that would      await Emery if he's convicted in the US.  In fact, both Emery's      supporters and his opponents suspect that frustrated Canadian police are      hoping that US courts will do what Canadian courts won't--lock Emery up.      But Emery believes there's more going on.  He thinks the American      government is also trying to muzzle him.</s>Mr. MARK EMERY (Seed Distributor): There's no doubt I'm the worldwide leader of this movement.      I'm easily the most recognizable figure anywhere in the world in regards      to the cannabis liberation movement.  I certainly provided more money.      So, you know, we paid $19,000 for the Arizona legalization initiative in      2002.  We spent $27,000 on a class-action suit in 1999 in Philadelphia to      make medical marijuana legal there.</s>Mr. TODD GREENBERG (Associate US Attorney): Well, I certainly expect      that Mark Emery will attempt to politicize it.</s>KASTE: Todd Greenberg is the associate US attorney in charge of      prosecuting Emery if the extradition is successful.  He says Emery's      political aspirations don't change the fact that he's a drug smuggler.</s>Mr. TODD GREENBERG (Associate US Attorney): Mark Emery is the--or was--the largest distributor of      marijuana seeds into the United States.  And the volume of marijuana      seeds and marijuana growing equipment that he was selling rose to such a      level that, you know, we just couldn't ignore it.</s>KASTE: But the US government has welcomed the fact that Emery will no      longer be able to raise money for his pet political causes.  In an      official statement, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy said, in her words,      "Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."      To many Canadians, that quote seems to confirm their suspicion that the      DEA is out to silence those who campaign for the legalization of pot.      Norman Spector, a political columnist for The Toronto Globe and Mail,      says even Canadians who don't support full legalization have come to      sympathize with Emery.</s>Mr. NORMAN SPECTOR (The Toronto Globe and Mail): The strongest argument      he has that probably resonates with some people in the middle is the idea      that we're extraditing someone for an offense that isn't enforced in      Canada and the sense that, you know, you Americans are really dinosaurs      on this whole thing and why are we doing this thing.</s>KASTE: Emery's extradition is not imminent.  Similar requests have taken      years to work their way through the Canadian courts.  But eventually most      extradition requests are successful, and Emery admits that there is a      good chance he'll face trial in the US.  If that happens, he says, he may      well be killed inside a sordid American prison.  Without a hint of irony,      he says he expects to become a martyr to the cause, just like Mandela and      Gandhi.  Martin Kaste, NPR News.