In 2010, marijuana legalization activist Marc Emery was handed a fiveyear jail sentence in a Seattle courtroom for selling seeds that grow into the cannabis plant.
He's due for release this week and today, in the same city where he was led away in cuffs, you can walk into a brand new storefront, slap down a $20 bill and walk out with a gram of perfectly legal recreational marijuana.
In his campaign, Emery has gone from the butt of jokes to martyr and now the father of
a movement that has picked up some powerful allies in academia, economics, medicine, law and politics.
West Vancouver's former police chief Kash Heed isn't just on board with legalization, he's now working as a consultant in the legal commercial grow-op business.
The leader of the federal Opposition party currently sitting at the top of the polls wants to see pot legalized and taxed.
In Washington, the state gets 25 per cent at the production, processing and retail level.
Sadly, some things have not changed. Emery will also be coming to home to Vancouver at the close of the infamous Surrey Six trial - a poignant reminder about the lengths that gangs are willing to go to in order to control the drug trade.
And some things have gotten worse as our own marijuana laws are tougher than ever, including mandatory minimum jail sentences for people caught growing as few as six personal plants.
It's enough to make your head spin.
