Hemp activist trial to begin today

After a oneday delay, opening arguments are expected to begin this morning
in the trial of promarijuana activist Aaron Anderson.

Anderson is charged with commercial promotion of marijuana for what he
believed to be a shipment of sterile hempor marijuana— seeds he and fellow
activist Roger Christie ordered from a mainland seed company in 1991.

Police said that the seeds were not sterile because plants sprouted when
the seeds were germinated.

Christie is also charged with the same offense, but prosecutors eventually
dismissed the charge against him.

The trial was expected to begin Monday morning but a ruling concerning the
calibration of the scales that were used to weigh the seeds and seedlings
led to the judge granting a oneday continuance.

Christie and Anderson have filed a $3 million federal lawsuit against the
county, claiming that prosecutors singled them out for prosecution because
of their outspoken prohemp views.