Trial begins for marijuana activist

Aaron Anderson charged with felony after buying seeds

By Crystal Kua
TribuneHerald

A seed is a seed is a seed— except in the Circuit Court trial Tuesday of a
cannabis advocate.

Aaron Anderson, 60, is charged with seconddegree commercial promotion of
marijuana.

The charge, a felony, stems from a package of what Anderson contends was
sterile hemp seeds he and fellow hemp activist Roger Christie ordered from
a mainland company in 1991.

A police dog sniffed out the package from a Federal Express plane, and the
parcel was eventually opened by police on May 7, 1991.

"What they found in that parcel was a lot of seeds," Deputy Prosecutor Kay
lope told a Circuit Court jury on Monday.

But police witnesses so far have been unable to tell jurors that the seeds
they saw in the package were "marijuana" seeds.

That's because Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ruled that merely looking at
seeds is not enough for lay witnesses to determine if they are indeed
marijuana seeds.

"The only marijuana you will see in this trial was grown by the Hawaii
County Police Department without a permit," Anderson's courtappointed
lawyer Brian De Lima said, although a detective testified police had the
proper permit.

The seeds the police grew sprouted, prompting police to contend that the
seeds were not sterile.

Anderson ordered the seeds from Specialty Commodities Inc., a mail order
seed company based in Fargo, N.D.

After attending a hemp exposition in San Francisco, Anderson originally
ordered 500 pounds of hemp to make food for an agricultural conference that
was being planned in Hilo.

But the seed company couldn't deliver his order in time for the
agricultural fair so he had the firm send him a smaller package of about 25
pounds.

Police vice officers working at Federal Express at the old Hilo airport
were responsible for intercepting any incoming drug shipments.

Thenvice Detective Leo Jitchaku testified that his drug dog Prince
"alerted" Jitchaku to the package on May 7.

The package was opened after a search warrant was obtained to check out
the contents.

Officer Dennis De Morales separated some of the seeds out of the parcel and
repackaged it for a "control delivery."

On May 9, Anderson picked up the parcel which was addressed to the Hawaiian
Hemp Council. Anderson used a money order to pay $72 for the package and
then was questioned by police. Anderson told them how he obtained the seeds
and that the seeds were steamsterilized.

"Mr. Anderson was very willing to talk to them," Iopa said.

Police later tried to see if the seeds would sprout. "These seeds grew into
marijuana plants," Iopa said.

But De Lima said that Anderson, who was born two months before marijuana
became illegal, truly believed he was buying 100 percent sterile seeds from
a bona fide mainland business.

"They distribute hemp seed which they believe was sterilized, which Mr.
Anderson thought was sterilized," De Lima said.

De Lima also questioned whether Anderson actually had the parcel in his
custody.

"Mr. Anderson never took possession of any box," De Lima said.

Anderson intends to testify in his own defense.

Trial continues this morning before Nakamura.

In a related development, Ohio hemp entrepreneur Don Wirtschafter told
reporters during a lunch break that hemp seeds undergo a much more vigorous
sterilization process than was required at the time Anderson and Christie
were indicted.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration now mandates that hemp seeds be
cooked at 220 degrees Fahrenheit for 15

minutes. Previously the seed were cooked at a lower temperature for
onethird of the time Wirtschafter said.

Wirtschafter, who will be called as a defense witness, said that Anderson
and Christie we "pioneers" in the hemp food industry.

But while Anderson's a' Christie's effort came to a grinding halt because
of the marijuana charge, Wirtschafter said he was able to start his own
hemp business in Ohio with no real legal challenges.

"I've got a multi million dollar company, and they're still in courts,"
Wirtschafter said.

Christie was charged with same offense as Anderson, but the offense against
him eventually dismissed.

Christie said he's again becoming involved in theHawaiian Hemp Co. and a
mainland land hempcoffee business.