ME - Marijuana advocate to be own lawyer

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Skowhegan - Donald Christen, an advocate of legalizing marijuana, pleaded innocent in Somerset County Superior Court on Friday to charges of trafficking in and cultivating marijuana.

Christen, the organizer of several yearly pro-marijuana concerts, including Hempstock and Harvest Fest, faces charges of aggravated drug trafficking and aggravated marijuana cultivation.

Friday, he told Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar that he intends to act as his own lawyer, although he said that he also hopes to have a Camden lawyer serve as his "co-counsel."

Christen has a long history of brushes with the law and in 1999 acted as his own lawyer when he successfully defended himself against charges he allowed underage people to drink alcohol at Hempstock.

He may use his case to underscore problems he has with Maine's medical marijuana law, according to longtime friend Carroll Cummings.

Cummingsl said Christen was growing marijuana for several people who qualify for the drug under Maine's medical marijuana law, including Cummings and Pam Christen, Christen's wife, when police arrested him in November.

The law allows patients to grow, possess and use marijuana, but does not provide a mechanism by which they can legally obtain either marijuana plants, seeds or processed marijuana.

"We are going to go to court and we are going to show them we need a place to get our stuff," Cummings said. "We are going to get distribution centers in this state. We have got to have them."



Source: Kennebec Journal Online
Copyright: Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Contact: acrowell@centralmaine.com
Website: http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/