Bias and The Border Redux

REMEMBER LAST WEEK? You know, the debate over whether the portrayal of American government activity in The Border was OTT? (Wedgie Fulford and Jim Henshaw said, 'yea,' I said, 'not so fast.')

From the 'not-so-fast' file...here's an example of the kind of beefs that we're speaking to with the show...

From The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: (excerpt...for the full article click the link above)

'Prince of Pot' given prison time

B.C. man says U.S. sentence is a political muzzle

Last updated January 15, 2008 10:04 p.m. PT

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER

A Vancouver marijuana activist, whose arrest and pending extradition for selling marijuana seeds over the Internet outraged many Canadians, says he's cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Seattle and is going to prison.

Emery had been facing a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and up to life if convicted in U.S. District Court for a crime that's rarely prosecuted in Canada.

In 2002, Emery -- who once ran for mayor of Vancouver on the B.C. Marijuana Party ticket -- bought a table for a presentation by White House drug czar John Walters and proceeded to heckle him throughout his presentation at the Vancouver Board of Trade.

"Three days later, I was under investigation," Emery said.

As support for his allegation that his prosecution was politically motivated, Emery prominently displays on his Web site a statement from Karen Tandy, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration at the time.

To the dismay of the federal criminal justice establishment in Seattle, Tandy issued a statement after Emery's arrest in July 2005, saying: "Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group -- is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also the marijuana legalization movement.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."

Greenberg last week rejected Emery's assertion that the prosecution was political.

The depth of concern on the part of many Canadians over the arrest was revealed by the massive response to a CBC documentary about Emery.

"I am incensed at the obvious infringement of our national sovereignty," wrote one viewer of the documentary to the CBC Web site. "If the U.S. tried this crap in China, it would be WWIII!"

Another viewer wrote: "We need to keep the influence of the American government at bay in Canada. This is OUR country, and OUR values are a lot different than America. It's wrong to send someone to jail for so long for something that is not considered to be a crime by most Canadians."

Canadian Sen. Larry Campbell, the former mayor of Vancouver and a former narcotics cop, told the Seattle P-I that it is "a rare, rare occurrence that anybody would be charged with seeds in Canada."

"If they extradite him to the States, there will be total outrage. The offense he is charged with carries virtually no penalty here in Canada. This is so characteristic of the drug war in your country and the hyperbole and over-the-top statements. It would make a great comedy show."

Or the basis for a drama show, maybe? Just sayin.