After five years behind bars in a U.S. prison, the “Prince of Pot" Marc Emery has been given the green light to come home.

“I am excited, but I'll probably believe it when I’m actually home. The process has been so long and winding,” he said by phone, still behind bars in the U.S.

The news arrived Friday afternoon from an immigration official, soon after his wife Jodie sent out the news over Twitter.

Marc will board a flight to Detroit Tuesday in shackles before walking across the border to Windsor Ontario a free man.

“It's just very exciting. It's been a hard time, but we're happy he's coming back,” said Jodie.

Jodie and Marc will spend five days in Ontario before flying back to Vancouver next Sunday. The week of her husband's release will be filled with celebrations but it won't be long before he's back at work, said Jodie.

“Marc is going to come right back to work and get right back into activism,” she added.

That activism is what landed Emery behind bars in the first place. He was extradited on pot-related charges in 2010 for selling seeds south of the border, but a lot has changed since then.

“He worked for a long time to make Vancouver the pot city it's known as. But he's never seen the dispensaries to the extent they are now. Even I’m surprised!” said Jodie.

Pro-pot activism has moved the issue forward in the U.S. as well in states like Washington and Colorado that have legalized recreational use, providing lush, green, and fertile ground to continue his work towards legalization elsewhere in Canada and the U.S.

Jodie Emery will run for the Liberal Party of Canada in the next federal election and it won’t be long before Marc is back on the streets of Vancouver too.