Daily BrewQ&A with pot activist Jodie Emery who wants in on Feds’ marijuana legalization task force
[Pot activist Jodie Emery speaking with MP Bill Blair who’s leading the Liberal government’s marijuana legalization task force. PHOTO COURTESY: Jodie Emery]
As the unofficial face of marijuana advocacy, Jodie Emery wants to take her work further. The activist, who’s pursued a career in politics, is currently gunning for a spot on the federal task on legalizing marijuana.
With 12 years of experience championing for the decriminalization of pot, Emery thinks she’s the perfect person for the role. As the wife of Marc Emery, the so-called Prince of Pot who spent five years in a U.S. prison for mailing pot seeds across the border, she says she’s well-versed in how the criminal justice system treats those facing marijuana offences.
Yahoo Canada News spoke to Jodie Emery, 31, about her political history, the fight for prohibition and attempts to convince the Liberals into letting her on the task force headed by former Toronto police chief Bill Blair who is now a parliamentary secretary under Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Q: How did you come to politics?
In 2005, the BC Marijuana Party wanted a full slate of candidates so I agreed to run in North Vancouver-Capilano, and again in 2008 in B.C.’s byelection. After that, gang violence was a big issue, so I turned my campaigning from being pro-pot into an end prohibition message. The B.C. Green Party asked me to run for them in the general election in 2009, and they also made me their policing and crime critic. I made marijuana prohibition the top issue for that campaign. I ran for them again in 2013. In 2010, my husband Marc was extradited to the U.S. for selling seeds…so during the provincial election, I didn’t have much time to campaign but I still ended up with 11 per cent of the vote in a downtown major riding. I’m just an activist who has run for office who’s very passionate about ending prohibition.
Q: The government has said it’s on track to legalize marijuana by 2017. How does that change what you’re doing?
They’ll introduce legislation in a year but legislation can take two years or longer to pass. They’ll introduce it, which is great, but that’s only because of decades of advocacy and relentless education campaigns on behalf of activists. Even five years ago, it was challenging to convince people that prohibition has failed and now everybody agrees it is a failed policy and legalization is the way to go. It is exciting and it is positive, but it’s only come about because of activists.
Q: What are you currently campaigning for?
The biggest issue is that there are still marijuana arrests for possession. We’ve been having a campaign for a while now, a moratorium request. Right now we have a legalize petition. When I was in Ottawa at the Liberal sSenate legalization forum, Bill Blair acknowledged he was shocked by the tens of thousands of Canadians who are arrested and charged for pot possession. Then he went on to say that they’re going to keep doing it anyways. Recently the government’s taken a hardline approach — they refuse to stop arrests. As an advocate who had my husband taken from me for five years, I’ve been through the criminal justice system. It’s unfair and unjust when it comes to pot. When I think of the thousands of people I’ve met who’ve been negatively affected by criminal records for marijuana, I realize the government needs to stop arresting young people so they don’t lose job opportunities and their ability to travel. We need them to stop arresting adults because those same adults are being told to buy it legally. If it’s unjust for them to be arrested for pot in the future, it should be unjust for them to be arrested today. Our request to the government is a moratorium on marijuana arrests, no more arrests for pot possession.
Q: Tell me about trying to get a seat on the federal task force on legalizing marijuana.
When the Liberal Senate forum announced in February that they were holding a meeting, they only had representatives on the panel from the police association, from the mental health community and addictions experts. There was such an outcry from Canadians about the panel being unbalanced that they found Eugene Oscapella, a pro-drug reform policy advocate. I hope to be the task force’s Eugene. The task force needs someone who is familiar with marijuana, who’s researched it for 10 years — and I’ve done it for 12 — somebody who has personally experienced the harms of marijuana being illegal. I’ve gone through the system, I’ve been inside a federal prison, I lost my husband. I receive phone calls and emails every day from people who’ve dealt with marijuana illegality. I’m quite well informed, that’s why the task force needs someone who can speak for Canadians who voted for legalization.
The interview has been condensed and edited.
