Angry in the Great White North

From the Vancouver Sun:

Vancouver pot crusader Marc Emery said Thursday he is prepared to spend 20 years in a U.S. prison in order to galvanize the marijuana legalization campaign, claiming it to be his life's work.

It seems like the kerfuffle over extradition was a big waste of time -- the guy is looking forward to his day in US court in order to pursue his life's work to legalize marijuana.

Hold on. Something doesn't make sense here:

"It's what I've always wanted to do -- make Canada free," he said.

"Ultimately, I'm fit and ready for battle."

Make Canada free? Uhm, Prime Minister Paul Martin has already dedicated the government to decriminalizing marijuana possession in Canada:

The federal government is committed to marijuana decriminalization and will reintroduce legislation to make it happen, Prime Minister Paul Martin said in his first statement on the issue since winning re-election.

Of course, with a minority government, these things take time.

But Emery wants legalization, not just decriminalization. One could argue that legalization will follow decriminalization, first in practice, then in law, but Emery has a plan to accelerate that.

He's going to go to federal prison in the US.

By what logic does he think spending 20 years in a US prison for breaking US laws will result in Canada becoming "free", when Canada is already on the path of decriminalizing, and probably legalizing, marijuana?

He figures that he goes to a federal prison in the US, and Canada in response legalizes marijuana completely, because in doing so the Americans would in turn...what? Let him go? Legalize marijuana themselves?

I'm not getting something here.

But I am certain of this. Not too many Americans, even those sympathetic to the argument that marijuana should be decriminalized or legalized, would be fans of a foreigner meddling in their political process:

Despite allegations that he laundered millions of dollars, Emery said he donated nearly all of the profits from his business -- between $3 and $4 million -- to marijuana-related activism.

Among his recent donations was $50,000 given to legalization campaigns in Nevada and Alaska.

Americans jealously guard their sovereignty, even if the foreigners happen to agree with their positions.

So we're back to the original question. Why does Emery think Canada would do anything with regards to decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana that they haven't already planned to do if he happens to be in an American prison? It could easily be argued that the Canadian authorities will crackdown on the activities of people like Emery to avoid further problems with an American administration enraged by Emery's meddling in their affairs. Ottawa would do anything to get the legislative agenda relating to marijuana off the radar in Washington, including slowing things down.

Marc Emery -- poster boy for the ill effects of chronic marijuana use on the brain.