Online Petition Urges Obama to Return 'Prince of Pot' to Canada

Supporters of Marc Emery call for a presidential pardon for a five-year sentence for selling marijuana seeds.

U.S. President Barack Obama recently launched a new online petition platform with the promise that he would personally weigh in on any petition that garners more than 5,000 signatures. One of the first petitions to eclipse that mark was one calling on the U.S. government to return Canadian marijuana activist Marc Emery back to his home and native land to serve out the remainder of his prison sentence. Emery was extradited to the U.S. in 2010 to begin a five-year sentence for selling marijuana seeds, but many fellow activists in both Canada and the U.S. have criticized the Canadian government allowed him to be shipped to the U.S. despite never actually committing a crime within its borders. The petition now asks for the president to pardon and release Emery well ahead of his 2014 release date. Obama has said he would respond to all petitions within a few weeks, so, Mr. President, we await your response.