Marijuana advocate Marc Emery waves to his supporters in Windsor, Ont., on August 12, 2014, as he walks with his wife Jodie following his return to Canada after release from an American prison for selling marijuana seeds in the U.S.Rebecca Cook/Reuters
Marc Emery was greeted by a crowd of supporters Tuesday upon crossing into Canada from Detroit after serving a five-year sentence for selling marijuana seeds to customers across the border.
Supporters of the country's self-styled "Prince of Pot" – including his wife, Jodie – gathered in Windsor, Ont., ahead of his return, which happened around 4 p.m. local time.
Jodie Emery said she and her husband are lucky that he is coming home a free man and can immediately resume their activism to legalize marijuana.
Dozens of supporters were lighting up joints and smoking pot with vaporizers as they waited for Emery outside Windsor City Hall.
Emery, 56, was extradited to Seattle in May 2010 and he pleaded guilty to selling marijuana seeds from Canada to American customers.
When Emery was first arrested almost a decade ago, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency heralded his seizure as a "significant blow" to the legalization movement.
His wife addressed the crowd of supporters waiting for her husband, saying Marc Emery "never hurt anyone."
"The families and loved ones of the pot prisoners did not hurt anyone and yet this government makes them suffer," Jodie Emery said, choking up as she spoke.
"You don't have to think Marc Emery is a hero but a lot of people do and I want to give him a hero's welcome and then we're going to continue our campaign to end prohibition in Canada, legalize marijuana, stop arresting people for pot, please. Please stop."
Details are still to be worked out for a 30-city cross-Canada marijuana advocacy tour and a visit to Europe for several speaking engagements, she said. The couple is based in Vancouver.