Canadian bookstore owner, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and social activist. In 1980 he ran for Parliament as a Libertarian Party candidate but lost. He later established himself as an organizer for the “Unparty” and in 1984, co-founded the Freedom Party of Ontario.
He was arrested in 1991 and 1992 for defying blue laws (against shops being open on Sunday) and for selling videos that had been deemed by law to be obscene. A year later, 1993, he moved to Vancouver and opened a store called Hemp BC. The store was raided in 1996 and in 1998, with all the cannabis paraphernalia confiscated and he began concentrating on a mail-order seed business and on supporting activists trying to legalize marijuana.
In 2000 he began publishing Cannabis Culture magazine and shortly afterwards, began publishing an Internet TV program in an effort to get marijuana legalized. He has continued to run for office under various party monikers, including what he called The Marijuana Party.
On July 29, 2005 he was arrested by police who raided his Vancouver headquarters and extradited to the US. He was subsequently charged in the US for drug and money laundering offenses and awaits the verdict on appeal. His wife, whom he married in 2006, is working on obtaining his acquittal and on the legalization of marijuana.
A documentary (1992) and a stage play named respectively 1992 “Marc Emery: Messing Up the System” and “Citizen Marc: The Adventures of Marc Emery” have been produced of his life.
Link to Wikipedia biography