Pubdate: Tue, 05 Mar 2013
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2013 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Page: B2

POT CLASSIFIED INCORRECTLY, LAWYER ARGUES

Hawaii island marijuana advocate Roger Christie urged a federal judge 
Monday to be the first in the country to dismiss marijuana charges 
because he contends the drug incorrectly falls under the most 
restrictive federal classification of drugs.

Christie's lawyer, Thomas Otake, told U.S. District Judge Leslie 
Kobayashi that dismissing the charges would be historic. He said 
Washington and Colorado recently legalized marijuana and that Hawaii 
and 17 other states permit medical marijuana.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara argued that a federal 
appeals court for Washington, D.C., as recently as January rejected a 
challenge to the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug.

Kawahara quoted from the ruling, which said there a "serious debate" 
about the effects of marijuana for medical purposes.

Kobayashi said she will rule by the end of April at the latest.

Christie, 63, is charged with marijuana conspiracy and distribution 
and failing to file federal tax returns on his income.

He has been held in custody since his arrest in July 2010. His trial 
is scheduled for July.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom