Marc Emery, Canada's so-called Prince of Pot, got married yesterday to a woman who apparently doesn't mind that her husband could spend large parts of their marriage in court or in jail as part of his mission to legalize marijuana.
"I will support him no matter what happens in any situation," Jodie Emery, 21, said shortly after the wedding. "I'm just so happy right now to be married to him."
She said she married Mr. Emery, who has been arrested 21 times, knowing full well he may spend many years in a U.S. jail.
Her new husband, 48, heads the B.C. Marijuana Party and publishes Cannabis Culture magazine. He is currently charged with selling marijuana seeds to Americans through the mail, conspiracy to manufacture pot and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
He was arrested last July along with Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek and Greg Williams after police raided Mr. Emery's pot paraphernalia store in Vancouver after an 18-month investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The wedding took place under a white tent in Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park where about 100 guests sat in suits and dresses passing around joints.
Blue skies and a garden of flowers were the backdrop for the nuptials.
"I can't imagine a more perfect day," Mr. Emery said.
After the ceremony, the bride, wearing a long, white strapless wedding dress, lit up what she called a "wedding doobie."
The Emerys then shared, in front of a crowd of reporters, their first joint as husband and wife, inhaling the smoke and then kissing.
"I am so lucky to be married to such a young and beautiful woman," the groom said.
When asked how the two will cope if he gets extradited to the U.S., Mr. Emery said he was upbeat.
"We don't talk about it really. I don't know what will happen to our relationship if that happens, but we just want to focus on getting out the message," he said.
The activist said he'll continue to challenge the U.S. war on drugs.
Mr. Emery claims to be the first marijuana-seed vendor to sell seeds directly over the Internet. Over 10 years, he claims to have sold about $15-million worth of seeds.
A date for the extradition hearing will be set Aug. 21 in B.C. Supreme Court.
In 2004, he spent 62 days in a Saskatoon jail for trafficking after passing a joint at a marijuana rally. That's where he and his new bride grew closer because she transcribed his blogs from jail, he said.
"We grew closer and spent more time together and that was it."
He has said his lawyers told him he has a 98-per-cent chance of being extradited.
Renee Boje, a Californian pot activist also fighting extradition to the U.S., attended the ceremony.
"That was just the loveliest wedding," Ms. Boje said, noting she hopes the couple will get to stay together in Canada. "I think Marc is going to end up staying, but I think there needs to be a lot more public support and pressure on the government."