On the same day that Burnaby saw the gala opening of its first dispensary for medical cannabis, and in the wake of a recent Ontario court ruling that struck down Canada’s pot prohibition as unconstitutional, supporters of Vancouver pot activist Marc Emery, imprisoned for selling mail order marijuana seeds, learned that the United States government had denied his application for a transfer from the US to the Canadian prison system. On the same day that Burnaby saw the gala opening of its first dispensary for medical cannabis, and in the wake of a recent Ontario court ruling that struck down Canada’s pot prohibition as unconstitutional, supporters of Vancouver pot activist Marc Emery, imprisoned for selling mail order marijuana seeds, learned that the United States government had denied his application for a transfer from the US to the Canadian prison system.

"This is a sad day for everyone," Jacob Hunter, of the Beyond Prohibition Foundation told the Tyee on Friday, speaking from the opening day of Burnaby’s first medical marijuana dispensary at 4927 Kingsway on Friday, April 15. "Mark Emery is looking at five years in a US prison for selling seeds, which ought to be legal."