Democrats Abroad Caucus this Saturday in Vancouver

Transmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don’t even know my real name
- Talking Head, Life During Wartime

I am a dual-citizen (CAN-USA) and try to vote in every election i can in both countries but it can be tricky making sure the ballot arrives in time for you to vote and mail it back so your votes counts. For USA-eligible voters in Canada (and there are aplenty), here is some info about making sure your are registered to vote in the USA general election using a ballot mailed to you in Canada in time to make it matter. Here’s what “Mike from Detroit’s” post on Obama Community Blogs - Vancouver World Convention!!! has to say and offers the proper advice, ergo:

Voter Registration

The latest census figures show that US citizens are flocking to Vancouver like never before. Since 2001 over 8000 Americans have moved to British Columbia, and 4610 of them chose to live in Vancouver.

In 2008 one of our primary goals will be to help these newcomers (and those who have been here for a long time before) to register and vote in the next presidential election.

A first step is to direct people to the Democrats Abroad online voter registration page (www.VoteFromAbroad.org). If you or someone you know has not yet registered to vote in the upcoming election, please direct them to this site.

I’ve updated my voter registration to an “American living indefinitely overseas” and encourage you to as well. You generally are attached to the area of your last US address - not that that makes any sense but at least you can start the process online and then print, sign, mail and hope to get your ballot 30 days before the election

Also for those who want to get more involved in party politics (generally not me but i do enjoy having the opportunity to party), here’s some bonus info about the Democrats Abroad Global Convention for the lesser-evil party this weekend in downtown Vancouver. The Republicans do not give delegates to ex-pats but the Demos do (i knew there was a difference!). For USA-ers living in the hallowed northland, the contact info the Democrats Abroad in Canada is available for your questions and concerns, alas the Vancouver chapter provides scant info {see below (i’ve emailed and asked for specific details for the weekends gig - who, where, what to expect, beers?).)

Whatever your political leanings, this is a chance to participate in a historic election in a unique way - just be sure to vote.

BTW geeknote: the Democrats Abroad is yet another Drupal site.

Convention basics follow from “Mike from Detroit’s” post on Obama Community Blogs - Vancouver World Convention!!!.

Global Caucus

Every four years members of Democrats Abroad from around the world are invited to a Global Caucus. The 2008 caucus takes place in Vancouver from April 11th to 13th.

Democrats Abroad is a global organization, with members from countries around the world. The organization has the status of a state party, and sends 22 delegates to the national Democratic Convention where the party’s presidential candidate is nominated.

This year DA members from around the world will come to Vancouver to select delegates for the nominating convention, and to take care of other organization activities. There will be plenty of opportunities to help with on-sight activities in preparation for the event. This is a great chance to get more involved with the party.

Now you may know that Obama already “won” the international primary but the way it breaks down is a bit confusing (kinda like when i was voting in Guam) so i will defer to the post by Darryl Wolk from Newmarket Ontario Obama wins Democrats Abroad global primary for the dealio on how they slice and dice the delegates - he seems absurdly engaged in a breadth of political views which is necessary to negotiate the murky matters of divvying up delegates - did my guy Bill Richardson get any?

UPDATE: Sean of the Vancouver chapter chimes in with the logistics

For the Convention, there are two Regional Caucuses on Friday and the Global Caucus on Saturday. The caucuses primarily select delegates to go to the national convention, elect DNC members, and discuss platform issues. A pretty good summary of the delegate selection processes can be found here:

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/DA-D.phtml

As US citizens we can all join DA and be observers of the meetings. Participation is in part limited to specific electors who hold an office in DA. It is equivalent to the State level conventions that are taking place now after primaries and before the national convention.

More info-nuggets:

Expat Democrats to convene in Vancouver - Vancouver Sun

Democrats race to Vancouver in metro by Jeff Hodson

Democrats abroad in WIkipedia

Get Registered at VoteFromAbroad.org

Tags: obama, clinton, democrats, politics, usa, canadian, ex-pat, voting, election, president, caucus, convention, public policy

Obama’s Position on Medical Marijuana

With the US aflutter with electioneering, my old buddy (who i am very eager to go visit) Hemp Ed in Pe Ell (hear Ed on Bacon, Biscuits and Hemp Ed - Choogle on #39) sent along Senator Obama’s campaign’s response to Ed’s query about the candidate’s medical marijuana policy.

Note that cannabis seems absent from the current political discourse aside from Mitt Romney (stop stalking me Mitt!) telling a terminally ill patient that he wouldn’t allow him to have medicine (he must be stopped!) aside from Ron Paul who has been marginalized by the process (despite rabid grassroots support).

Anyhow, Barack (who has toked in his time)’s folks say:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting Obama for America to inquire about the Senator’s position on allowing severely ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes.

Many states have laws that condone medical marijuana, but the Bush Administration is using federal drug enforcement agents to raid these facilities and arrest seriously ill people. Focusing scarce law enforcement resources on these patients who pose no threat while many violent and highly dangerous drug traffickers are at large makes no sense. Senator Obama will not continue the Bush policy when he is president.

Thank you again for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Obama for America

We’ll see if noted Olympia correspondent Cosmo (and precinct organizer for Obama AFAIK) has anything to add.

Photo Credit: Awesom high school yearbook image from Pushing String blog Barry Obama and the gang

Cannabis Seeds for Sale at Courthouse as Vancouver 3 Agree to Plea

Marc Emery and his now-former co-defendants held a press conference this morning (Tuesday January 22nd) to discuss the plea bargain which results in no extradition to the USA. Emery, Greg Williams and Michelle Rainey made their remarks outside the BC Supreme Court house Downtown Vancouver to an assembled mass of journalists, supporters, activist and surprised passing barristers.

Vancouver Seed Bank Manager (and former editor of Cannabis Culture) Dana Larsen and colleagues were on hand to sell hi-grade marijuana seeds in $20 vials as a sign that selling seeds is a legally tolerated activity in Canada unlike the USA.

Busted in Japan - a narrative by a Briton caught in Kansai

A quick preamble to this stunning narrative …

I wrote Hemp Culture in Japan which turned into a collaboration with HempMan, a German in Japan, to create a comprehensive clearinghouse of all information about Cannabis in Japan called Taima.org. This site is maintained by HempMan but in dire need to “web 2.0″i-fi-cation to make more searchable and participatory and such but i digress …

As part of my research, i get interesting things in the snail and postal mail - from angry letters from Iran PhDs to cool grow shot shots to other”researchers” wanting all my contacts.

This note though is heavy duty as this older gentleman recounts the dystopia experience of being shook down. Frustrating to be sure as no one would add any reason or sense to the process and he was cut off from most anyone but a rubber-stamping attorney.

I’ve followed up with the gentleman for some more insight, but for starters, get comfy and give this a read.

I arrived at Kansai Airport last March with around 15g of marijuana. I’d bought it in Amsterdam and thought it would be OK as I’d travelled in and out of Japan for years and never been searched - this time it was different. I don’t really know why they searched me - the sniffer dogs weren’t interested. Anyway, they discovered the stuff. Later that day they searched my apartment and discovered about 20g there in deep
freeze - pretty bland stuff and I was hoping the import from Amsterdam was going to give me a better buzz.

I was kept at Kansai kuko police station for 18 days and then transferred to Sakai detention center in southern Osaka, where I spent a further 42 days (almost 2 months in total).

Even though I’d cooperated fully with the police, confessed and didn’t try to hide anything, the prosecutor demanded a 2 year prison sentence as I had a ’significant’ amount. I’ve lived in Japan for 18 years and this is my first offence. In the trial, the judge regarded my ‘addiction’ as a big problem as I’d admitted to first smoking cannabis when I was 19 (I’m now 54) he said he was giving me a 18 month sentence suspended for 4 years. Very surprisingly I was granted bail after the first court appearance (the hearing and presenting of evidence). This cheered me no end as it seemed to indicate the judge and prosecutor did not regard me as a danger to society. At present I’m waiting to see what Immigration has to say as they decide to deport or not.

I did try to get my lawyer to emphasise the relative ‘harmlessness’ of cannabis abuse and the fact that I had often stopped smoking - sometimes for months at a time (couldn’t buy it) and also this was a victimless crime - smoking alone in my own home. This was ignored and not brought up at the trial but I suppose the lawyer had good reasons, he was pretty indifferent about the case to begin with and only after constant prodding by friends did he start to work a bit harder. I was still amazed at the possible harshness of the sentence. According to the lawyer, the maximum penalty for smuggling or possession of cannabis is 5 years in jail and/or a 30 million yen fine.

Detention in Japan was extremely boring and there were hundreds of rules to be obeyed. Sitting on a hard floor (this is Japan - no chairs are allowed) was very uncomfortable for me. If it wasn’t for friends bringing books and a decent cushion, I may have tried suicide in detention. The food was reasonable, though. I wasn’t made to pay court costs although my lawyer charged me his ’standard’ fee - $4500. So now I’m out of a well-paid job and a lot poorer and still have the possibility of being
kicked out of Japan.

For anyone else contemplating bringing drugs to Japan, I’d advise - DON’T take the risk. Buy it in Japan. Grow it in Japan, (seeds are ‘apparently legal’ as there is no THC - but they’re always confiscated) but DON’T bring it in. According to the web site http://www.customs.go.jp/tokyo/english/iio/iio-cased-y2006.html even amounts as small as 1g are prosecuted.

If I’d done the same in my home country (Britain), I’d probably have been kept overnight in a cell or simply cautioned and then released - the police there have far better things to do with their time. The Japanese police throw huge amounts of money (and police time) at these prosecutions and my ‘file’ was 4 inches thick at the end, with scores of colour photos and colour copies of my diary, travel notebook etc. There were at least 3 complete copies produced. My home was searched by 10 officers for 90 minutes - while they discovered cannabis seeds hidden in a box, they failed to find a large bong filled with cannabis and may not have found my deep-freeze stash if I hadn’t pointed it out!

Police here seem to rely on confessions and don’t seem to have the ability or desire to ‘investigate’ cases thoroughly - which is why many Japanese kids ’stonewall’ the cops, when arrested.

More on this topic:

For more hemp on Japan, listen to Japanese Mountain Satori Time - Choogle on #48 & International Heads and Hemp Oil - Choogle on #34

Hemp Culture in Japan - a 1992-7 ground-breaking treatise on the history and cultural significance of hemp in Japan. Hemp Culture in Japan is available in .html or .pdf.

For alternate versions, visit Taima.org, a site dedicated to Hemp in Japan. Published in Cannabis Culture magazine (#13 & Best of …), the Journal of International Hemp Association (V.4 N.1) as well as excerpted in several books including Hemp Horizons and “Hanp” from Norway and Hemp for Victory from UK.

They Gave him 5 Years for $Billions of Economic Growth

Marc Emery plead to a bargain of 5 years served in a Canadian prison instead of extradition to the USA to face a long, (likely fruitless) trial in Seattle and a sentence of up to life.

While the real dream is total victory and reprieve for all cannabis users, for Marc, this could’ve been worse.

The really remarkable thing is how the extradition issue really crystallized conservative Canadians who didn’t care about marijuana legalization grabbed a hold of the flagrant breach of sovereignty which occurred when the DEA-led campaign arrested Marc, followed by the extradition attempts - trying to take a Canadian to be tried in the US on US charges!?!?! Asinine indeed and most of Canada agreed.

From NO Extradition

If Canadians have broken the law in Canada, they should be given a fair jury trial in Canada. If they wouldn’t face any imprisonment in Canada for the charges laid, they should not be extradited to another country to face life imprisonment.

In Canada, a $200 fine — not jail time — is the BC Supreme Court appeals precedent for selling cannabis seeds (R. v. Hunter, 2000), and 58% of Canadians oppose extradition in this case (Strategic Counsel/Angus Reid polls).

It’s clear Marc’s 2 colleagues (Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams) were arrested as ransom to force a plea at minimum but fortunately their struggle will alleviate and charges will be dropped as part of the plea. The plea seems to come at a time when the personal vendettas have slowed due to political and economic shifts.

The Seattle-based former US district Attorney John McKay was fired in the recent Alberto Gonzalez roundup and he was the one waving the banner for Marc’s demise. McKay was also the one famously grandstanding over the discovery of a tunnel from Langley to Lynden (as though that’s the first one - heh).

Also, the DEA’s Karen Tandy, who had a personal issues with Marc after his crew heckled Drug “Czar” Walters’ nonsensical claims at a conference not too long ago, has moved on for a bigpaycheque at Motorola.

… and finally, the latest news from the No Extradition

LATEST NEWS: A press conference will take place at the BC Supreme Court at 800 Smithe Street, downtown Vancouver, at 10:00am on Tuesday, January 22nd. The hearing has been adjourned in order to continue negotiations for a possible plea deal agreement between the United States, Canada, and Marc Emery. Please call Marc or Jodie Emery for more information if you’re with the media: (604) 689-0590.

Opposition to extradition is still needed! Please phone (613) 957-4222 to tell the Canadian Minister of Justice it would be “cruel and unjust”, and an insult to Canada’s sovereignty, to extradite Canadians Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams to the United States to face life in US prison.

In case you missed it, Marc’s speech before Joey Shithead’s Band of Rebels of gig on Tokes on the Porch Returns to Herby’s Garden - Choogle on #56