Pubdate: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 Source: Bangor Daily News Contact: http://www.bangornews.com/ Copyright: 1998, Bangor Daily News Inc. Author: Walter Griffin, BD NEWS Wednesday, November 11, 1998 JUDGE GIVES 30 DAYS ON DRUG CHARGE BELFAST - Suggesting that caffeine was more harmful than marijuana, Waldo County Superior Court Justice William S. Brodrick rejected the prosecution's call for extended jail time and sentenced an admitted pot smoker to 30 days. Brodrick sentenced John Thompson, 40, of Frankfort, the town's road commissioner, to one year in jail with all but 30 days suspended, a $1,000 fine and two years probation after Thompson pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs. Assistant Waldo County District Attorney Leane Zainea had argued for a four-year sentence with all but one year suspended. The sentencing occurred in Waldo County Superior Court on Monday. According to Zainea and defense attorney Christopher MacLean of Camden, Thompson admitted having 2.6 pounds of processed marijuana in his possession when arrested at home in February 1997. Thompson told the court that he had used marijuana for years. During the sentencing phase of the hearing, Justice Brodrick indicated that the Food and Drug Administration had determined that marijuana was less addictive than caffeine. "I think justice was served,'' MacLean said Tuesday. "The court made the proper ruling.'' That was not the interpretation of Detective Gary Boynton of the Waldo County Sheriff's Department. While reluctant to criticize Justice Brodrick, Detective Boynton said the department spent a lot of time and effort on the Thompson case and expected a tougher sentence. He noted that Thompson had two prior marijuana convictions on his record. Attorney MacLean said Thompson was convicted in 1982 of possessing more than 190 marijuana plants and was fined $200. In 1988, he was convicted of possessing 179 plants and received a 90-day suspended jail term and one year probation. MacLean said it was unreasonable to escalate a criminal's sentence from suspended jail time to the one year in prison the district attorney had wanted. He said the punishment should fit the crime and that Thompson deserved a sentence incremental from those he received earlier. "He is an admitted user of marijuana,'' MacLean said. "There were no allegations that he was selling to children or anything like that, just to his friends.'' While District Attorney Zainea declined to comment on Justice Brodrick's comparison between marijuana and caffeine, she indicated that she believed Thompson deserved a more lengthy jail term. - --- Checked-by: Pat Dolan