Friday, August 26, 2005

your chance to sign the THC4MS petition - click and vote

Over a five year period, THC4MS have sent over 33,000 bars of CannaBiz chocolate to bode-fide sufferers of MS. Everyone knew what THC4MS were doing. Everyone including the Police, Local Government, the Post Office and the MS community as a whole. A blind eye was turned at every opportunity. That blind eye was turned because THC4MS were doing nothing but good. The law itself turned a blind eye on several occasions! Good honest people helped whenever they could. Hundreds of well qualified doctors have allegedly "conspired" with THC4MS to help their patients. Thousands of good and honest victims of MS have had relief from the THC4MS product.

Click & Vote: Please sign the THC4MS petition now at

Find out more at the THC4MS website.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

free the Pot Hostages - stop the extraditions to the U.S. for cannabis, global protests Sep 10th

PEACEFUL PROTEST outside Canadian and US Embassies, Grosvenor Sq, London, W1. Sat 10 September 2005. Meet in centre of Square (small park). 2pm - 5pm. Nearest tube: Bond Street.

The United States is attempting to extradite Marc Emery, editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine and two of his colleagues from Canada for offences related to supplying cannabis seeds by mail order.

Thease are relatively minor charges in Canada, but if these judicial kidnappings go ahead the Canadian 'pot hostages' face draconian penalties in the U.S. which they would not get in their own country. Amnesty International has described the US prison system as 'inhuman'.

Marc Emery is a leading cannabis activist and magazine publisher known internationally for his campaigning work. He has obviously been singled out for attention for political reasons.

Despite paying taxes on all profits from his seed buisness Marc is also being charged with ‘money laundering’, because he spent his seed profits on the campaign to end cannabis prohibition.

At very short notice, international protests have been organised for 10th Sep 2005, with protest events confirmed in 36 cities including London.

The issue of concern for people everywhere is the attempt to extradite non U.S. citizens for cannabis 'offences' to face harsher penalties than they would ever receive under the law of their own countries. It could be anywhere next. For anything.

Other issues are the 'Bush War on Drugs', the Afghan Heroin Scandal, and solidarity with US medical cannabis users also facing extradition to US prisons from Canada.

We will be advising the Canadian Government to retain their legal independence and their sovereignty as an independent nation, and refuse these extraditions. Canada has a good reputation in the world to uphold! According to a recent public opinion survey, 58 per cent of Canadians oppose Marc Emery's extradition to the USA.

We are calling on the US government to stop taking hostages in their failed 'War on Drugs' and end cannabis prohibition now. Currently over 700,000 Americans are prosecuted in the USA just for marijuana possession, costing over 10 billion dollars a year. Under U.S. law you can even face the death penalty for large scale ‘ganja’ cultivation, while their treatment of medical cannabis users is a crime against humanity.

Despite their total failure, the US is still attempting to export its drug policies worldwide, including Britain, with networks of DEA agents interfering in local politics, and causing problems. This seems to result in the increased use of heroin and crack cocaine where ever they go.

The DEA's 'fundamentalist' drug policy stubbornly flies in the face of scientific evidence, claiming that cannabis has no therapeutic or nutritional value. It is time they turned over a new leaf for the sake of the American people, and people everywhere.

"They came for the cannabis users and I did not speak out, and then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me".

PEACEFUL POT PROTEST @ Canadian and US Embassies, Grosvenor Sq, London, W1. Sat 10th September 2005. Meet centre of Square (small park). 2pm - 5pm. Nearest tube: Bond Street.

Free The Pot Hostages Sep 10th CONTACTS:

London organisers:
World listings:
Latest news:

DOWNLOAD London event flyer for printing and local distribution: freepothostages.pdf (A4 3up b/w 220k).

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

global demonstrations planned as owner of Cannabis Culture magazine sits in Canadian jail facing extradition to USA

In a move that could bring them nothing but trouble, the American government has forced the Canadian government to arrest Mark Emery, founder of Cannabis Culture magazine, and are trying to extradite him to one of their concentration camps, along with two other Canadians, for selling marijuana seeds to Americans.

The extradition process could take anywhere from six months to two years. A court hearing regarding bail is due in Vancouver on Tuesday starting 10am. According to Cannabis Culture's website the Canadian authorities are trying to block bail for Mark which is very unusual for a non-violent offender. One of the others is now out on $25,000 bail which is unusually high.

The legal reasons for refusing an extradition order in Canada are:

(a) the surrender would be unjust or oppressive having regard to all the relevant circumstances; YES!

(b) the request for extradition is made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing the person by reason of their race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, language, colour, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability or status or that the person's position may be prejudiced for any of those reasons. YES!

c) allowing it to go ahead would "shock the conscience" of Canadians. YES!

According to Neil Boyd, professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., "What's unusual about this case is that they are arresting a person for conduct that attracts very serious penalties in one country and potentially no penalties in Canada," Boyd said.

All three defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. The distribution charges alone carry potential punishments of 10 years to life imprisonment.

Emery and two accomplices, Gregory Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, were arrested by Canadian authorities on a warrant issued by federal officials in Washington state. The Seattle-based office of the Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation which started 18 months ago.

According to the Seattle Times, Mark Emery, known in Canada as the "Prince of Pot", was arrested on a U.S. indictment charging him with selling millions of dollars worth of marijuana seeds to customers throughout the United States. They are saying that at least 75 percent of his seed transactions involved U.S. customers.

Vancouver Police Department spokesman Howard Chow, is quoted saying the authorities likely thought there was a better chance of conviction and harsher punishment in the U.S.

In Canada being busted for selling pot seeds is a minor issue usually involving a fine of which Mark Emery has had many, although according to his Web site, he was most recently sentenced to 92 days in jail for trafficking and possession. In Britain marijuana seeds are legal as long as you do not mix them with water, earth and light in such a way that they grow.

There has already been a spontaneous demo in an area of Vancouver known as 'Vansterdam' of about 100 people, but this could just be the beginning unless the Canadian authorities do the sensible thing and refuse to extradite the three Canadians to a country Amnesty International has said runs inhuman prison facilities.

Meanwhile the story is going international, and could turn into a public relations disaster for the American government and their so called 'War on Drugs'. Something like the McLibel case maybe, or hopefully worse.

Mark Emery is known all over the world for publishing his excellent 'Cannabis Culture' magazine and supporting campaigns all over the world to end cannabis prohibition. On several occasions he helped the Cannabis March and Festival in London. This move against him is politically motivated, aimed particularly at closing down Cannabis Culture magazine and ending the work of one of the most important campaigners against cannabis prohibition in the world.

Canada could also suffer from an international backlash ending their image as a relative oasis of freedom next to its totalitarian neighbor. But if Canada now holds up to their sovereign rights against the power of the United States, they will be international heros. It is their choice, although the pressure from the US will be massive.

Tommy Chong, one-half of the stoner comedic partnership of Cheech and Chong was shocked when told of Emery's trouble with the DEA as he used to live in Vancouver. "They're going to extradite him down to the [U.S.] for something that's not really a crime in Canada. If Canada goes for that, they really suck."

International phone lines have been buzzing as cannabis campaigners plan a global protest action for September 10th, if Emery and his two colleagues are not released. An international media campaign with demos targeting US embassies worldwide is being discussed.

Amnesty International is being asked to take on the case, making the three, 'prisoners of conscience'.

It is arguable that US policy towards cannabis users is genocidal because one of the internationally accepted definitions of genocide is any attempt to "obliterate the way of life' of someone.

Over 750,000 people a year are arrested just for marijuana possession in the USA, and if you get caught with over 60,000 marijuana plants you can get the death penalty.

Monday, August 01, 2005

THC4MS to be prosecuted: free medical cannabis service that may have saved NHS £10 million, under legal attack

They helped provide a service called 'THC4MS' that has delivered FREE home made cannabis chocolate to MS suffers all over Britain for the last ten years. In hard cash terms they may have helped save the NHS a million pounds a year, (thats £10 million so far), but you can't put a value on the human benefits of their work.

So what is their reward? A Knighthood from the Queen might be in order, but instead they are being being prosecuted for 'conspiracy to supply cannabis', and could be sent to jail for 14 years! "Guilty of intent to heal" more like. What a crazy world! How can this be in the public interest?


The people 'THC4MS helped may now be forced to buy cannabis on the black market, or go without the benefits it gives. That means they may be in hospital again sooner, be more likely to be wheel chair bound, less likely to be able to work, and for some it may mean they will be dead sooner.

A Knighthood is not good enough for these THC4MS saints who give medical cannabis free to suffering people genuinely in need; the Queen should make them THCLORDS.

There is some surprise that the prosecutions are going ahead as their service had been running for 10 years, and was doing such good work. After the police raids which have resulted in the prosecution, one of the three now charged, Mark Gibson, told the Scotsman; "We were an open secret. We were sending to people from Orkney to Penzance."

On May 15th, Mark Gibson spoke in Trafalgar Square at the Cannabis Education Rally, organised by the Cannabis Trust. In his speech he called for an amnesty for medical cannabis users and suppliers. Now we need that amnesty even more urgently.

Has Britain gone mad? We know about 'reefer madness', but this is 'choco-madness'. These prosecutions should be stopped now 'in the public interest'. Britain can't afford to waste time and money like this.

One thing you can do to help is write to Charles Clarke, Home Secretary, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. Ask him to look into this case, as a prosecution is surely not in the public interest. Please be sure to use that term "not in the public interest", because our legal advisors say this is a reason that allows the Home Secretary to intervene in such cases. ALSO send the same letter by e-mail to

Our 'Medical Cannabis Users Guide', gives a lot more information about the many Uses of Medical Cannabis.

So remember, be nice and influence people: Write to Charles Clarke, Home Secretary, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. And please ALSO send the same letter by e-mail to

We hope never, but one day it could be you, or a friend or relative who is denied the medicine that works, mostly just to protect the profits of companies selling medicines that do not work.