Marc Emery rubs some people the wrong way. And that's precisely his intention.

Yesterday afternoon, Emery showed up on the front steps of London police department headquarters and lit a marijuana cigarette -- or in his words, a "giant bomber" -- that he then passed among about 75 onlookers.

Rub.

As others fired up joints and pipes and pot smoke swirled toward police headquarters, Emery claimed that smoking pot is not only legal, but morally and ethically right.

"Marijuana does not impair," he told the crowd. "Marijuana enhances!"

Rub rub rub.

Emery was here as part of his self-described Summer of Legalization cross-country tour, which has included stops in Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary. Today, he heads to Hamilton. On Saturday, the former owner of the City Lights Book Shop (he left London 11 years ago) plans to speak at Queen's Park in Toronto.

Emery's tour revolves around a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, which ruled against overturning a precedent-setting Ontario Superior Court decision that cleared a teenager of marijuana possession charges. The Superior Court judge ruled there is no current ban on possessing pot in Ontario, because the federal government failed to comply with a July 2000 court order to create a new law dealing with the drug.

Under proposed new federal laws, possession of up to 15 grams of pot -- enough for about 20 joints -- would be a minor offence carrying no criminal record. Police forces in Ontario have said they won't lay charges for possession of less than 30 grams of pot until the laws are clarified.

Yesterday, I didn't see a single police officer emerge from the headquarter's front door during the 90-minute demonstration. But though he wasn't charged by London police (he has been charged in six other cities), Emery insists damage is still being done.

"Even though there was no marijuana law in effect in 2002, we had over 50,000 charges laid (in Canada)," said the fast-talking activist during an interview before the Dundas Street demonstration. "And that's staggering. There's no other civil rights violation as massive."

Emery says about two million Canadians have been charged with cannabis-related offences in the last 35 years, and that this so-called "pogrom" has harmed countless Canadians.

"When we incarcerate people for marijuana and take a person away from their family, we're doing incalculable harm," he said. "We spend billions of dollars and we give police incredible authoritarian power . . . causing a generation or two to never trust the police.

"Where does Canada benefit by any of these laws relating to marijuana?" he asked. "We don't. There's no benefit."

But isn't Emery just a selfish pothead who wants nothing more than to get stoned?

"Even if I'm some hedonistic pothead, I shouldn't have to suffer jail," said Emery. "And even if that were true, it doesn't validate the fact that the majority of Canadians who don't smoke marijuana are responsible and explicitly supportive of our oppression."

Rub, rub, rub.

Emery argues legalizing marijuana would bring the government more tax revenue and put criminal traffickers out of business. And because of his crusade, some call Emery a civil-rights crusader.

I see him as a guy who's dedicated his life to rubbing our faces in things we'd rather ignore.

When he was 20 years old, Emery had a vasectomy because he didn't think he could devote enough time to properly raising children. (Rub.)

In 1984, he helped found the Freedom Party of Ontario, but left in 1990 because he said Canada would be better off without any government. (Rub.) In 1991, he protested a London city bylaw prohibiting sidewalk signs. (Rub.) He condemned the public school system as "prisons for children" and taught his stepchildren -- now in their 20s -- at home. (Rub.)

In 1992, he tried (unsuccessfully) to get arrested for selling literature about marijuana. The same year, as part of his attempts to overturn Canada's obscenity laws, Emery was convicted of selling banned copies of an album by the rap group 2 Live Crew. (Emery received a conditional discharge and 12 months probation.)

And yet yesterday, the 45-year-old rabble-rouser admitted he earns $300,000 a year from his Vancouver-based mail-order marijuana seed business -- and pays $144,000 in annual taxes on that declared income.

"But you know what?" he said. "I'm grateful to pay (the taxes). You're talking to a guy who's had his money used against him in five raids, 13 jailings and 17 arrests.

"And I still believe Canada is the greatest place on earth."

Rub, rub, rub.